The Fake Relationship ReMastered
by BillAtWork
Summary: This is not new, it's just improved.  Sarah is forced to choose between duty and love.  And when she finally decides, will it be too late?  The beginning is a little angsty, but don't worry.  I promise only happy endings.
1. The Break Up

_This is not an original story. In fact it is one of my first. It was written at the beginning of season 2. The story was inspired by a series of discussions between BrickRoad and me talking through different storyline ideas. She wanted me to go in a totally different direction. The more she tried to talk me out of it, the more ideas she unwittingly gave me. Did I mention that she is as bad at talking me into things as I am her? Anyway if you like the story, thank her for the inspiration._

_Anyway, I really liked this storyline (if I do say so myself, lol) but I was still a fairly new author. That meant that technically, I stunk. Thanks to people like Poa, Lucky47, and yes BrickRoad, hopefully I've improved. The idea that I would digitally re-master and re-release something old… much like an aging rock group would their one hit, was so well received with Therapy that I decided, what the hell._

_So if you ever read the original, most of this will be really familiar. There will be some new content and a lot more details but the story is basically going to be the same._

_If you didn't read the original, first off, what the hell? A bit of fair warning, this starts off a little on the angsty side. In fact the first few chapters contain probably the most genuine angst of any of my stories. But never fear. I only write happy endings. Hang in there and you'll get some major sappy fluff. In fact if you're diabetic make sure to have a doze of insulin at the ready before trying to read the last couple of chapters._

_I don't own Chuck, Sarah, or any of the characters portrayed here_

_Warning: There is some adult content in this, probably more than the original (thanks to my meeting Poa, lol). Nothing major but please use discretion. I still don't own Chuck._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference. That's probably more important than ever now that the series has ended. If you want to keep the Chuck fandom alive and continue to read about these characters, you really need to think about rewarding the people whose hard work make that possible._

_**The Break Up**_

x-x-x-x-x

"I'm not happy about this at all," General Beckman said harshly. "We need to treat this as a crisis. I shouldn't have to remind you that we need to protect the intersect at all costs."

Casey and Sarah were at Casey's place, having been hastily summoned to a conference to discuss the recent developments.

Sarah knew that Beckman was furious. And with Graham dead she was now firmly in charge. She had the power to quickly make things miserable for everybody. So she tried to calm her down. "Yes, ma'am," she replied quickly. "But we have the situation under control. Agent Casey and I arrived before Colt could harm Chuc, um, I mean the intersect. He and his team are in custody."

But Beckman wasn't in a mood to be talked out of being furious. Maybe it was time to remind these two who their unquestioned boss now was. "Yes, Agent Walker," she said sarcastically. "At least we didn't lose him this time. But the fact of the matter is that he was lured into a trap, all by himself, while you and Agent Casey were running off tracking some dead end lead."

"Yes, ma'am," said Casey. "We had intelligence that led us to believe that we knew the location of the cipher."

"But your intelligence was wrong," replied Beckman coldly. "In fact you were both fooled fairly easily. We can't have the intersect being alone to fend for himself."

Casey was playing a bad hand, and he knew it. It would be foolish to try to defend the current situation. So he didn't. "Yes, ma'am," was all he replied sadly.

"And I'm getting tired of the intersect being exposed to these kind of risks," Beckman continued. "So I've decided to make some changes. I'm assigning an additional agent to your team. Agent Becky Ivan will be starting at the Buy More tomorrow. I want her to get close to the intersect."

Sarah had never heard of Becky Ivan. But she instantly knew what 'close' meant in that context. Hopefully Beckman just misspoke. "Get close, ma'am?" she questioned hesitantly. "Close in what way?"

No such luck.

"She is going to do what you refused to do, Agent Walker," Beckman said firmly. "She is going to form a relationship with Bartowski, by any means necessary. She is going to use that relationship to keep him controlled."

"With all due respect, ma'am," Casey said. "How is she going to do that? Bartowski is not really a good candidate to be a seduction target right now. It's pretty obvious that he is in love with Agent Walker here. There's no way he is going to look at another woman."

"Is this true, Agent Walker?" Beckman said as she narrowed her eyes.

Sarah tried to keep the smile from forming. That would be the worst thing. If Beckman suspected she was compromised, she'd be immediately reassigned. She just couldn't quite pull it off. "Well, ma'am," she said softly. "He's never actually said those words, but it's very possible."

"Well, Agent Walker," said Beckman firmly. "What can you do to make Agent Ivan's job easier."

Sarah tried to keep her voice as calm and professional as possible. That would be the only way to convince a hard ass like Beckman. But she was shaking inside. "Ma'am," she said. "Maybe it would be best if I increased the intensity of our relationship. It would be easy. I can control him."

Beckman just shook her head. "You've had your shot," she said firmly. "I've seen how you control him. Besides, I want someone inside the Buy More. What can we do to make Agent Ivan successful?"

"I know," Casey said excitedly. "Agent Walker can tell Bartowski that she is still in love with Bryce Larkin. That will end any hope that he had in his mind for a relationship with her. He will be ripe for a rebound."

Casey wasn't trying to hurt Sarah. And he certainly wasn't trying to piss her off. He just got excited at solving the problem and blurted it out. And Sarah really couldn't react. Beckman was looking directly at her. But Casey could tell by her body language alone that Sarah was not happy. It fact she was throwing invisible hate bombs in his direction.

"Excellent," Beckman said. "That works,"

"But, ma'am," Sarah interrupted. "Please, there has to be another way. That would crush him."

"Is there a problem, Agent Walker?" Beckman asked pointedly. Then she leaned forward to add additional emphasis to her next words. "Are you compromised to the point that you can't do your duty here?"

Sarah knew that her current assignment was hanging by a thread. And that would mean losing any contact with him. "No ma'am," she replied sadly. "I'm only thinking of the team. He has a history with Agent Larkin, feels like he always loses to him. This will hit him harder than anything we could possibly do to him. If I, umm, we crush his spirit, how will he be effective?"

"Maybe this isn't the best idea," said Casey chimed in trying to repair the damage. "Agent Walker is right. It would crush him. I'm afraid that his mood might impact his usefulness for some time."

But Beckman wouldn't be swayed. "No," she said firmly. "I like this approach. Agent Walker, I want you to tell him tonight. I'm not worried about Bartowski. He'll be fine. Agent Ivan will get him back in the saddle quickly. Seduction is her specialty. As a matter of fact, we'll probably have to get used to a permanent smile on his face for a while. After a few nights in bed with Agent Ivan, he'll forget all about his puppy dog crush on Agent Walker."

"In bed," asked Sarah sadly, much more to herself than anybody.

"Come on, Agent Walker," Beckman said with a snide laugh. "How long have you been an agent? You know exactly what Agent Ivan is going to do. It's what you should have done a year ago. We both know it. And another thing, we're not going to tell Agent Ivan about the intersect for the time being. She just thinks that Bartowski is a high value asset."

"Yes, ma'am," Sarah said with a sigh.

"Well, you have your orders." Beckman said with her typical growl. "You're dismissed."

As soon as the screen went blank, Sarah quickly turned and began to stomp towards the door without glancing at Casey.

"Walker," Casey called.

Sarah continued walking without responding as if she hadn't heard him.

"Sarah," Casey called softly. "Please wait."

Sarah stopped walking but continued to stand facing the door.

"I'm sorry," Casey said sadly. "I wasn't thinking. I know this was my idea. I didn't think of how hard this is going to be for the two of you."

When Sarah finally turned to look at Casey he could see her blinking the tears away.

"This is why agents don't get involved with assets," Casey said softly. "I'm really sorry, Sarah."

"I know," Sarah said softly. "Trust me, I know. It's just… it's just hard."

"How bad is this?" Casey asked.

Sarah stood and debated how much to say. She wasn't fooling Casey anyway. He knew the way they looked at each other. But a flat out admission probably wasn't best either. "It's bad," she finally said. "Now not only do I have to destroy him, crush his spirit, I have to stand by and watch another woman seduce him."

"I know," Casey said softly. "What are you going to do?"

"What choice do I have?" Sarah asked sarcastically. "I follow orders. You know that."

She opened the door and left the apartment.

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck was sitting in his normal spot at the Nerd Herd desk. Since it was a Tuesday afternoon, not much was happening. And that was totally fine with Chuck. After all, he had a lot on his mind. Of course, the main thing was that he was still the intersect. He had so been looking forward to getting his life back. That would be great. But there was a fly in the ointment. What would that mean for him and Sarah? Would she really stay after it was no longer an assignment? She had agreed to the real date. That was more than hopeful. And it had gone amazingly well. In fact they were oh so close to their first real, romantic kiss. Until Colt and his crew ruined it, that is.

"Hey buddy," Morgan said, startling Chuck out of his deep thoughts. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing," replied Chuck with a deep sigh. "Just daydreaming a little. What's wrong with that?"

"You were thinking about Sarah," Morgan said with a short laugh. "Admit it."

"And why would you say that?" Chuck said as he turned his attention to his short friend.

"Come on, Chuck," Morgan said slapping him on the back. "Who do you think you're talking to? I've seen that look before. And why not? I mean, she's the hottest thing I've ever seen."

"Okay, Morgan," Chuck said with a laugh. "Yes, I was thinking about Sarah. And I'd like to get back to it if you don't mind."

"Say no more," Morgan said as he walked away. "Tell the truth. In your daydream she's naked, isn't she?"

Chuck playfully shooed Morgan away and went back to his thoughts. But now, what? Would Sarah agree to continue dating him when she was still assigned to protect him? Chuck knew that would be a hard sell. But he was determined to give it his best shot. Sarah had agreed to come over tonight and talk about it. Even that was a huge step in the right direction. Sarah never wanted to talk about that personal stuff. Chuck knew that this was his only shot and he was determined to take it. He promised himself that he would make every effort to convince her. He'd beg if he had too. He needed her. And he knew that she felt the same way. He knew it. It was time for her to come clean.

x-x-x-x-x

The moment that Sarah walked into the apartment her eyes told Chuck that something was seriously wrong. The sparkle that Chuck had grown so accustomed to seeing just wasn't there. For one thing, she wouldn't look him in the eye. For another she looked around the room, her gaze darting nervously from spot to spot.

"Hi," Chuck said with a smile. He could tell that she was very nervous. She never felt comfortable talking about her feelings. He tried to calm her down by making small talk. "How was your day?"

"Chuck," said Sarah with a deep sigh. "You wanted to talk. No offense, but can we just get this over with?"

"Sure," Chuck said softly. "I know that this is hard for you."

Sarah decided there was no way to say this gently. "I can't date you," she blurted out as she looked at the floor.

"Sarah, please," Chuck whispered urgently. "I know that you have a job to do. I think that we can work it out. I'll do whatever it takes. Please let us try. I love …"

"I just realized something last night," Sarah interrupted softly. "I'm still in love with Bryce. I'm sorry."

It took a long moment for Chuck to process what she had just said. He felt like he had just gotten punched in the gut. Of all of the things that he expected her to say in his planning for this chat, that was one he hadn't anticipated. But surely he should have realized it was a possibility. Bryce was her type. Bryce was everything that he wasn't. Of course he always got the great girls. Finally he composed himself enough to speak.

"Are you sure?" he asked so softly that Sarah could barely hear him as she had to turn away from the pain on his face.

Sarah knew that she couldn't answer him believably. He'd see right through her. So she simply nodded.

"I thought… I umm thought…" Chuck stammered as he tried unsuccessfully to fight back the tears. "Wow, I didn't see that coming. I was going to beg you to try and work it out with the job. I guess I never considered that you didn't feel the same way. I feel really foolish. I really thought that we had something. I guess it was just that you're very good at your job."

Sarah knew that she had only a scant few seconds to get out of that apartment or break down in front of him. And that would almost assuredly mean spending tonight in his bed. It would be glorious… but it would also mean immediate reassignment and losing him forever. "I'm sorry, Chuck," she said. "The last thing I wanted to do was to hurt you. But given the circumstances; I think that it would be best if we ended our cover relationship. It would be too awkward, don't you think?"

"If that's what you want," was all Chuck could finally choke out after a long pause. "Is that really what you want?"

Sarah called upon ever fiber of her training to look him in the eye without crying. "Yes, Chuck," she said as she opened the door to leave. "It is. I'll work it out with Washington."

"Then I guess there's nothing left for me to say," Chuck said as the tears in his eyes began to overflow. "Please tell Bryce how lucky I think he is."

Sarah knew that she just couldn't leave him rejected like this, whatever happened. This was the worst thing she could tell him. He always felt inferior to Bryce. He shouldn't but he did. This was just going to reinforce that. "Chuck," she said softly as she walked out the door. "Please don't feel badly. This isn't about you. I can't tell you how great I think you are. And in another place and time, who knows? I'm so, so sorry."

"I'm sorry too," Chuck whispered to the now closed door as tears streamed down his face. "I'm really sorry too."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah quickly walked to her car and drove away. As soon as she was out of sight, she pulled into a deserted parking lot. She picked up her cell phone and dialed the number.

"Walker, secure."

"Yes, ma'am, I told him."

"Yes, ma'am, he's pretty broken up."

"At least it's over, ma'am."

It took every bit of will power that Sarah could muster as she fought to stay composed while she talked. As soon as the call ended she put her head on the steering wheel and sobbed uncontrollably at the look of utter devastation on his face. It was well over an hour before she could compose herself enough to drive home.

x-x-x-x-x


	2. The New Girlfriend

_This is not an original story. In fact it is one of my first. It was written at the beginning of season 2. The story was inspired by a series of discussions between BrickRoad and me talking through different storyline ideas. She wanted me to go in a totally different direction. The more she tried to talk me out of it, the more ideas she unwittingly gave me. Did I mention that she is as bad at talking me into things as I am her? Anyway if you like the story, thank her for the inspiration._

_Warning: There is some adult content in this. Nothing major but please use discretion. I still don't own Chuck._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference. That's probably more important than ever now that the series has ended. If you want to keep the Chuck fandom alive and continue to read about these characters, you really need to think about rewarding the people whose hard work make that possible._

_My friend Natty did the beta on the original chapter. This was a happy story until she made all of those changes (just kidding). Fair warning, this starts out a little rough from a Charah point of view. Don't worry. I promise no shippers were actually harmed in the making of this story._

_**The New Girlfriend**_

x-x-x-x-x

When Sarah arrived at Casey's for the morning briefing the woman she assumed was Becky Ivan was already there. Sarah had to admit to herself that she was very attractive, if that was your type. Unfortunately, it was exactly Chuck's type. Becky was tall, almost as tall as Sarah, and slender. She had dark auburn hair that was just past shoulder length. She had obviously picked out an outfit that accentuated her hazel eyes. She had a very fair complexion. Before she had even been introduced, Sarah could feel the dislike building inside her like the feeling after eating a bad taco.

Sarah kept the neutral expression on her face as Casey uneasily introduced them. _She could sure stand to gain a few pounds. And how is she going to pass as a Nerd Herd employee? She looks more like she should be opening a suitcase on a game show than an agent._

But Becky was clearly trying to make a good first impression on her new assignment. "Agent Walker," she said with a smile as she stuck her hand out. "It's an honor to finally meet you. You're very famous."

Sarah couldn't muster up much enthusiasm, but she wasn't overtly hostile either. "Thanks," she said as she took Becky's hand and firmly shook it. "It's nice to meet you too. Welcome to the team."

"What can you tell me about the mark?" Becky asked eagerly.

Sarah made very little effort to hide her displeasure. "Well," she said briskly. "First off, he is an asset, not a mark. We call him Chuck."

If Becky felt chastised, she didn't show it. "Okay," she said without changing her tone. "What can you tell me about Chuck?"

That was a dangerous question for Sarah Walker. Because there were tons of things she could tell her. She could tell her how the smile involuntarily came to her face whenever he walked into the room, how he was the first man who had her questioning her choices in life, how she couldn't picture her future without him in it, how she could see her children in his brown eyes. "Chuck is the nicest guy that you're ever going to meet," she finally settled for softly. "His friends and family mean everything to him. Once you're in his inner circle, he is fiercely loyal. He is incredibly generous with his time and emotions. I've never seen him put on any sort of air. There is simply nothing fake about him. With Chuck, what you see is what you get."

Becky just nodded with a grin. "This sounds like it is going to be easy," she said. "What are his favorite things to do?"

"Well," Sarah said thoughtfully. "He loves playing video games. I would say that is his main recreation. He loves music. He also likes to watch science fiction movies. And of course he loves computers. He hopes to become a software developer someday."

"Man," Becky said with a huge sigh. "He sounds like a total geek. Does he like to do anything normal?"

Suddenly, Sarah's tepid dislike turned far more intense. "He prefers nerd," Sarah said, a little more harshly than she had intended. "And he might be a nerd, but he is the sweetest nerd in the world. In fact, he is the sweetest person I've ever met. If he considers you a friend, there is nothing he wouldn't do for you. I guess he likes to walk on the beach. You would consider that normal, right?"

Becky was obviously taken aback by the intensity of Sarah's reply, but even more by the fire that was in her eyes. "Okay," she said cautiously. "What about in bed? What does he like in that department? Does he like to be the aggressor? Something else? Any quirks?"

Of course Sarah knew what Chuck would be like in bed. She knew it exactly. He would be incredibly generous and loving. After all, she imagined it almost every night. But she was growing rapidly tired of this conversation. "Agent Ivan," she said with a derisive laugh. "If I knew the answer to those questions, you wouldn't be here, would you? I'm afraid you're on your own in that area. I'm sure it won't take you long to find out for yourself."

"No," replied Becky with a smug smile that had Sarah imagining different creative ways to wipe it off. "It won't."

x-x-x-x-x

When Chuck's alarm clock went off at its appointed time, it found him feeling worse than he had ever felt in his life. He simply couldn't muster the energy required to reach up and turn it off. So it continued to buzz.

After about five minutes Ellie came bursting into the room. "Aren't you ever going to turn that damned thing off?" she exclaimed in clear annoyance. But then she noticed the look on Chuck's face. "What's wrong?" she asked in concern. "Are you sick?

"No," Chuck said with a huge sigh. "I'm not sick. I'm just down. Sarah and I broke up last night."

"No," Ellie said softly as she sat on the edge of the bed. "Sweetie, I'm so sorry. Are you sure? What did she say?"

"She told me that she is still in love with her old boyfriend," Chuck said sadly.

"Maybe she'll change her mind," Ellie said as she patted Chuck's head softly. "Maybe she's just confused."

"I don't think so." Chuck said as he sat up and hugged Ellie. "She sounded pretty sure."

Ellie reached down and rubbed Chuck's back, like she always had when he needed to be comforted. "Love is a funny thing," she said with a sad smile. "Sometimes, just when things look darkest, things turn around. I really thought Sarah was the one."

"So did I, sis," Chuck said as he hugged Ellie tightly and buried his head in her shoulder.

"So did I."

x-x-x-x-x

When Chuck walked into the Buy More the first thing that he noticed was that there wasn't anyone at the Nerd Herd counter. As a matter of fact the only employees that Chuck could see at all were Morgan and Anna. They were standing by the washing machines and it looked like they were having something of a heated discussion. No surprise there, they often fought. As soon as Morgan spotted Chuck he came quickly over to him. Anna was just a step behind.

"Hey Chuck," Morgan said with his customary smile. "How's it going?"

"Hi Morgan," Chuck said slowly with a sigh. "Where is everyone?"

"Whoa, Chuck," said Morgan quickly. "What's wrong dude? You look like a bully just stole your lunch money."

Chuck was too tired to try and hide anything. And it was going to be impossible to hide anyway. "I guess everybody is going to find out sooner or later," he said sadly. "Sarah and I broke up last night."

"Dude," said Morgan with a smile. "Did you dump her again? That's like insane."

"Not this time, little buddy," Chuck said with a sad smile. "This time I was the dumpee."

"Man," said Morgan. "That sucks. So maybe you want to join all of the others."

"The others," Chuck asked as he looked around at the empty store. "Where is everyone?"

"They are surrounding the new girl," Anna piped up sarcastically for the first time. "Like vultures circling road kill."

"New girl?" Chuck questioned. "Since when is there a new girl?"

"Oh yeah," Morgan said excitedly. "We have a new employee in the Nerd Herd. She is in the back. Very, very hot."

As soon as Morgan saw the look on Anna's face, he visibly gulped.

"I mean if you're into that sort of thing," Morgan continued clearly trying for the miraculous save.

No such luck.

"Unbelievable," snorted Anna as she went stomping off with Morgan right behind her mumbling apologies as he chased her.

Just then Big Mike walked up. "Bartowski," he bellowed in his usual abrupt manner as he handed Chuck a call slip. "You have a service call. Take the new girl with you and show her the ropes. And for Pete's sake, keep those clowns away from her. We don't want her quitting the first day."

"You got it, Big Mike," Chuck said with a nod. "What is her name?"

"Becky something," Big Mike replied over his shoulder as he walked away towards his office. "Introduce yourself. Do I have to do everything around here?"

x-x-x-x-x

When Chuck walked to the back room, it was hard to not recognize the commotion. Becky was sitting at a table in the break room filling out some paperwork. Jeff, Lester, and the rest of the crew were 'helping' her.

Chuck could tell immediately what the Nerd Herd was up to. This new girl could be very attractive if she wanted to be. And currently, she clearly really didn't want to be. Her dark hair was pulled up into a bun. Her glasses looked like they were made in the eighties. Her new still wrinkled nerd herd outfit did nothing to show off her curves. Finally, the lack of any makeup also didn't help. But she couldn't hide those gorgeous hazel eyes.

"Ahh, tax forms," Lester said confidently as Chuck walked up. "I think that you'll want to claim zero dependants. That will maximize your refund. I assume that you don't have a husband?"

"No, Larry," said Becky with a smile. "I'm not married."

"Boyfriend?" asked Jeff.

"No," Becky said, her smile now becoming forced. "I just moved here."

"Guys," said Chuck loudly. "Let's give our new teammate some air, shall we? And I'm sure that we all have some work that could possibly be getting done?"

"Hi," Chuck said as he smiled and extended his hand. "My name is Chuck Bartowski. Welcome to the Nerd Herd."

"Thanks Chuck," said Becky with a beaming smile. "My name is Becky Ivan. It's nice to meet you."

"Unless you're really into those tax forms," Chuck said with a smile. "Big Mike asked me to take you on a call. Would you like to get out of here for a while?"

"Very much," Becky replied with a smile.

Becky took off her glasses as they walked outside. Chuck noticed right away that she was much prettier without them.

"Thank you," Becky said with a sigh as soon as they were safely in the Herder.

"For what?" Chuck asked curiously.

"For rescuing me from that pack," Becky said with a sigh of relief. "They are about as subtle as a car bomb. You're a life saver. Are they always like that?"

"Pretty much," Chuck said with a laugh. "Especially when you happen to be an attractive female. Or actually pretty much any female now that I think about it."

"Chuck," Becky said with a blushing smile. "Do you really think I'm attractive?"

"Of course," Chuck said with a sly smile. "But I'm very sorry that I said that. Please don't sue me."

"Why would I sue you?" replied Becky with a huge smile. "It's the nicest thing anyone has said to me since I moved out here."

"Where are you from?" Chuck asked.

"I'm originally from Dallas," Becky said with a huge sigh. "I moved here because my boyfriend got transferred. Of course, two weeks after I move here, the jerk dumps me. Apparently he discovered how easy L.A. girls are. So here I am, strange city, don't know a single person, and new job. I guess that makes me the most pathetic loser around."

"I see," said Chuck sadly. "A fellow dumpee. Welcome to the not so exclusive club."

"You too?" Becky asked in amazement. "What idiot would dump you?"

"Oh my goodness," Becky said as she blushed. "I can't believe that I just said that out loud. I'm so embarrassed. You must think that I'm a total dork."

"The proper term is nerd," Chuck said with a laugh. "Dork doesn't quite have the same ring to it. But it was nice of you to say. Thank you. To tell you the truth, it's a good thing for me to hear. I'm really still hung up on her. It's going to take a while."

Becky sat and tried to decide how hard to push. "I'm sorry," she said softly. "I hope you don't think this is too forward but would you like to have dinner tonight? I mean, unless you have other plans."

"I don't know, Becky," Chuck said hesitantly. "I'm no where close to the point of being able to go on a date. I'm not sure when I will be."

"Please, Chuck," pleaded Becky. "It doesn't have to be like a date. Can't we just hang out? You're the first normal person I've met here. I'm lonely. I can't stand the thought of spending another night in my apartment all alone. Maybe you could show me the sights. I'd love to see the beach. I mean, you're alone. I'm alone. Please. I'm getting desperate. If you won't go with me, I'll have to go ask Larry when we get back."

"It's Lester," Chuck said with a laugh. "And that's no fair. I can't feel responsible for you going out with Lester. I guess I could show you around a little. I have to warn you though; I'm not going to be the happiest guy you've ever been out with."

Agent Ivan knew that she was on the fast path to completing the first phase of her assignment, a little rebound sex in her apartment tonight. "Thank you," she said as she put her hand over Chuck's on the console. "I'll do everything I can to make sure that you have a good time." This was almost too easy.

As Chuck looked for the address, Becky put her head against the passenger window and whispered to herself.

"You have no idea."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah was thankful that her current mind-numbing shift was almost over. If there was a worse cover job on the entire planet, she sure didn't know what it could be. Serving up frozen yogurt to a steady line of teenaged boys who were spending their allowance for a chance to try and look down her shirt. She had to graduate at the top of her CIA Academy class for this?

Not that she really had anything to look forward to doing after work. Normally this would be the highlight of her day, a chance to spend some alone time with Chuck. But since she no longer had a cover relationship to worry about, she really had no excuse to not review those intelligence reports that she had been putting off.

Sarah couldn't help but let her thoughts drift to him. What was he doing, trying in vain to get Jeff and Lester to do some work? She smiled to herself as she saw them in her mind. She had the overwhelming urge to go over there and talk to him. But what good would that do? All it would accomplish is making her want to throw herself into Chuck's arms. But she knew that she couldn't do that. Besides, Becky Ivan was currently working her seduction assignment. Sarah wasn't sure she could watch that happen. If she was half as good as Beckman said, Agent Ivan would have Chuck in bed tonight. Even the thought of it made her mood worse… and just when she thought she couldn't be any sadder. Sarah was so absorbed in thinking about it that she didn't even notice Ellie come in.

"Hi, Sarah," said Ellie.

It was a testament to how messed up she was that Ellie made her jump. Spies were trained to never show surprise. "Ellie," she said as she put her hand over her heart. "Oh my goodness, you scared me."

Ellie knew that there was more to this breakup story than met the eye. Sarah was a different sort of person, but there was one thing that Ellie could see plain as day. She loved Chuck. You could see it on her face whenever she looked at him. So Ellie made it a point of trying to become friends with her. And honestly that had gone a little slowly, especially at first. But lately they were starting to make some real progress. "I hear that you've had a bad day," she said with a reassuring smile.

Sarah just nodded. "I know that you're probably angry," she said sadly. "But please don't yell at me. I can't take that right now."

Ellie reached out and touched Sarah's arm. "Why on earth would I yell at you?" she asked.

"Isn't it obvious?" Sarah asked. "Because I just crushed your brother."

"Sarah," Ellie said firmly. "I'm not really here to stick up for Chuck. He's a big boy. I'm here because I'm your friend. Do you want to talk?"

Sarah suddenly found that she did want to talk. Ellie was the closest thing that she ever had to a girlfriend. It was almost as sad losing that as it was losing Chuck. "I never meant to hurt him," she said softly. "I lo- umm like him very much. How is he doing? Does he hate me?"

Ellie shrugged her shoulders. "He's hurting today," she said. "There is no sense trying to deny that. But there's no way he could ever hate you. He loves you. Chuck will be all right. But right now I'm concerned about you. How are you doing?"

Sarah was touched by the sentiment. It was clear that they were becoming friends on their own, outside of Chuck. "It's tough," she admitted with her eyes growing a bit misty. "I feel like I lost my best friend and my family, not just my boyfriend."

"I hope you know that I'll always be your friend," Ellie said with a smile. "No matter what happens between you and Chuck, you didn't lose me. You know that, right?"

"Thanks," Sarah said with a nod and as much smile as she could manage. "That means a lot to me."

"So," Ellie said. "We're friends, right? We've established that. So this is coming from your friend and not Chuck's sister. Do you believe that?"

Sarah didn't know what Ellie was getting at. So she just nodded.

"What are you doing, Sarah?" Ellie asked softly. "Talk to me. I want you to be happy. I do. And if you can't be happy with Chuck then you should move on. The last thing I would want is for you to stay with Chuck if you weren't happy. But you can't tell me that you don't love him. I can see it in your eyes. Look at me and tell me that I'm wrong."

Sarah could no longer look into Ellie's eyes, so she turned away. "It's complicated," she said with a huge sigh. "We can't be together. I can't explain it. Please just trust me. We can't."

"What's complicated?" asked Ellie firmly. "You love him. You just had a perfect chance to deny it and you couldn't. And he loves you. We both know it."

This is exactly why spies shouldn't have friends. There were simply too many times when she couldn't tell her friend the truth. "It just is," Sarah said as she looked at Ellie again. "I'm afraid I can't explain it any more than that. You have to help me, Ellie. Please don't give Chuck any false hope. Promise me that?"

Ellie knew that Sarah had been pushed as far emotionally today as she could be without breaking. So she backed off. "I promise," she said as she stepped up and embraced her friend. "Don't worry. Whatever is meant to be will be. You believe that don't you?"

That was the best thing that Ellie could have possibly done… to let her know that she was still her friend when the things she was saying didn't make any sense. "Thanks Ellie," she said as she returned Ellie's embrace.

"You know that you can always talk to me?" Ellie said firmly as they continued to embrace. "Right?"

"I know," Sarah said. She was grateful for her friend. This had actually helped. "Please don't give Chuck any false hope. It's just going to make it harder for both of us."

"Don't worry," Ellie said with a smile as she broke the embrace and headed for the door. "I won't give him false hope."

As soon as the door closed behind her, Ellie's smile turned into a grin.

"I'm going to give him real hope."

x-x-x-x-x


	3. The First NonDate

_This is not an original story. In fact it is one of my first. It was written at the beginning of season 2. The story was inspired by a series of discussions between BrickRoad and me talking through different storyline ideas._

_Warning: There is some adult content in this. Nothing major but please use discretion. I still don't own Chuck._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference. That's probably more important than ever now that the series has ended. If you want to keep the Chuck fandom alive and continue to read about these characters, you really need to think about rewarding the people whose hard work make that possible._

_Fair warning, this starts out a little rough from a Charah point of view. Don't worry. I promise no shippers were actually harmed in the making of this story._

_**The First Non Date**_

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck honestly had a little trouble finding Becky's apartment from the address that she gave him. He really wasn't looking forward to this at all. Having to smile at someone seemed like more effort than he was willing to put forth. Chuck would much rather crawl into bed and sleep until it was time to go to work again.

"We might as well get this over with," Chuck said to himself with a sigh as he knocked on her door.

Becky opened the door almost immediately. She was clearly anticipating this. Chuck was so surprised at her appearance that it almost made him forget about being depressed for a second. Long gone was the Plain Jane look from earlier at work. Her nondescript Nerd Herd uniform was replaced by a pair of very form fitting jeans and a sheer top with a neckline that was just north of respectable. Her dark hair fell over her shoulders and shinned in the light. Her lack of makeup at the Buy More had been expertly corrected. She was, indeed, quite the babe. "Hi Chuck," Becky said with a full smile. "Please come in. Have a seat."

Chuck tried to not do a double take. After all, he didn't want to send the wrong impression. But her eyes said that she had clearly picked up on his checking her out, and was not at all unhappy about it. "Do I have the right address?" he asked with a teasing smile. "I'm looking for Becky Ivan. You must be her super model sister."

Agent Ivan was torn. Should they actually go out tonight? Or could she just give him a couple of beers and seal the deal right here? "Chuck," she said with a shy smile. "Please don't tease me. I'm very self conscious about my looks. Would you like a beer?"

"Why would you be self conscious?" Chuck asked as he took the beer from her hand. "You look beautiful. I'm just happy I can actually say it without being sued."

Becky had decided to play bashful. So she put the embarrassed smile on her face and looked shyly at the floor. "Thanks," she said. "I can't tell you how long it's been since a man said something that nice to me."

"I find that really hard to believe," Chuck said as he took a sip of his beer.

"Well," Becky said excitedly as she bounced down next to Chuck on the couch. "What are the plans for tonight? I can't wait to actually have some fun for a change."

"I'm pretty open," Chuck said. The truth was he hadn't thought much about it. "Is there anything in particular that you want to do?"

"You're the local," Becky said as she looked over at Chuck. "I trust your judgment. I'm totally in your hands tonight." Hopefully that would literally be true in a few minutes.

"A real risk taker, I see," Chuck said with a laugh. "You said earlier that you wanted to see the beach. Do you still want to?"

Well, Becky resigned herself to the fact that they would be going out. He clearly needed some more softening before she could jump him. "I'd love that, Chuck," she replied.

"There's a hamburger joint right on the beach," Chuck said. "It's not much to look at but they make the best burgers I've ever had."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Becky walked barefoot, side by side, on the beach. Dusk was just starting to settle in and the last of the surfers were gradually packing it in for the day. Chuck was right. The burgers were great as usual. Becky couldn't stop talking about them. Actually, Becky couldn't stop talking at all. Chuck couldn't help but smile at the change in her once she had a couple of beers in her.

"Tell me about her," Becky finally said softly as they continued walking.

"Her?" Chuck questioned.

"Your ex," Becky said with a smile. "The moron who dumped you. You really loved her, didn't you? I can see it in your eyes."

It was hard for Chuck to think about that in past tense. "I really do," he said sadly. "Sarah is the most amazing person I've ever met."

"They why?" Becky asked softly. "Trust me, Chuck. Women don't usually dump men who love them like you so plainly did. It's too rare."

"There's apparently another guy," Chuck said with a sad smile. "I guess it's not all that rare."

"I'm sorry," Becky said as she looped her arm through Chuck's. "For what it's worth, I think she is making a big mistake."

"Thanks," Chuck whispered. "That's nice of you to say."

Becky used the arm that she had wrapped with Chuck's as leverage and spun around so that she was facing him. She put her other arm around Chuck's and pulled him closely. "Take me home," she whispered. "And I'll show you how much I mean it."

"I don't know," Chuck said with a sigh.

"Please," Becky pleaded softly. "I'm not ever this forward but I really like you. I'm alone. You're alone. Why not? There would be no strings."

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie was standing there waiting for Chuck when he walked into the apartment. "Hi, Chuck," she said cheerily as he walked into the dining room. "Have you eaten?"

"Yes," Chuck said. "I had a burger a while ago at the beach with Becky."

"Becky," Ellie questioned. "Who is Becky?"

"She's a new employee at the Buy Moore." Chuck replied. "Today was her first day. She is from Dallas and has never seen the ocean. She wanted to see the beach. So I took her."

"You went on a date?" Ellie asked incredulously. "You actually went on a date the day after breaking up with Sarah?"

Chuck knew that Ellie was protective of Sarah. "No," he said quickly. "It wasn't a date. I made sure she knew that it wasn't a date. She was lonely and I just showed her the beach."

"Good," Ellie said with a sigh of relief.

Okay, so Ellie was protective of Sarah. But why was that good. "Why," said Chuck. "Sarah dumped me. Why is it good?"

"I talked to her today," Ellie said with a smile. "I don't think that you should give up on her."

There was something about Ellie's smile that made Chuck take notice. "Why?" he asked hesitantly. "What did she say?"

"She loves you," Ellie said softly. "I know that she does."

"Did she say that?" Chuck asked skeptically.

"I don't want to exaggerate here at all," Ellie said in a soothing voice. "She didn't exactly say it. But I said it and she didn't deny it when I asked her. Even after I pointed out to her that she didn't deny it, she just got red faced. She basically admitted it… without actually saying it. She is definitely struggling with something. I really don't know what yet. But I know one thing. That girl loves you. She has for quite a while. I'd bet anything."

"I don't know," stammered Chuck. "Sarah is a hard person to read."

"Trust me," said Ellie with a grin as she rustled his hair playfully. "Give her some space for a couple of days, let her think it over, and you'll be back together. I know it."

As Chuck lay in his bed, he couldn't stop a smile from coming to his lips. "Maybe Ellie does know something," he said to himself. After all, women seemed to be able to sense those kinds of things. And what he wouldn't give for it to be true.

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah was driving to Casey's for the morning briefing. Actually, she had gotten the heads up from Casey that there was going to be two briefings this morning. After the standard one with Agent Ivan there would be another with Chuck included to talk about a mission for tonight.

Sarah had totally opposite reactions to the two briefings. She dreaded the first one more than anything. The last thing in the world that she wanted to hear was the details of Chuck being seduced. It was a long shot but if she would show up a little late maybe they would have already talked about last night with Chuck. That way she wouldn't have to hear about it.

On the other hand, she was really looking forward to the meeting with Chuck. After all, she hadn't seen him in over a day. It was the first time in quite a while that they had gone a whole day without speaking. She knew that the smart play was to stay away from him as much as possible. But she couldn't bring herself to do that. She needed to know that he was going to be okay. More importantly, she needed to know that he didn't hate her. Hopefully they could start the healing process and eventually get over this.

The first briefing had just gotten underway when Sarah walked into Casey's place. Beckman was speaking. And from the tone of her voice, she was not happy. And, as Sarah knew very well, when Beckman wasn't happy no one was happy.

"Agent Walker," Beckman snapped sarcastically. "How nice of you to join us. Weren't you aware of the scheduled starting time for this meeting?"

Sarah knew the risk of her being late strategy… and it had just bit her. "Sorry ma'am," she said quickly. "I got caught in traffic."

"Agent Ivan," Beckman continued coldly, ignoring Sarah's excuse. "Explain to me again how you were unable to complete your assignment with Bartowski last night. Was I unclear in some way when I told you how important it is that he be controlled?"

"No ma'am," Becky replied with a visible grimace. "You were very clear. It's just that the mark obviously still has a strong attachment to Agent Walker."

Sarah was having a hard time. Chuck had turned her down. She was never more proud of him. She even had to bite the inside of her lip pretty hard to keep the grin off her face.

"Well, Agent Ivan," Beckman said harshly. "I suggest that you try again as soon as possible."

"Yes ma'am," replied Becky. "Perhaps I could get some assistance from Agent Walker."

Sarah didn't expect that. And she was still gloating. So there was no need to be nice. "What do you want me to do, Agent Ivan?" she asked while still trying to hide the grin. "Would you like some seduction pointers? Do you want me to turn down the bed? Perhaps you'd like to borrow a negligee?"

Becky recognized the comment for what it was… a shot. "No, thank you," she replied as she cast a sideways glance towards Sarah. "But the mark obviously still has strong feelings for you. Perhaps you could do something to discourage him."

Again, there was absolutely no reason to be nice here. "I've already told him that I'm in love with his nemesis," Sarah said softly. "From all accounts he's crushed. Do you want me to throw a knife at him? What more can I do?"

"I'm not sure yet," Becky said with the venom clear in her voice. "But when I think of something I want to make sure that I can count on your cooperation."

"Enough of this ridiculous cat fighting," Beckman said harshly. "Agent Walker, you are to do whatever is necessary to aid Agent Ivan in her mission. Is that clear?"

Sarah knew that Beckman was serious. Being catty to her junior associate was one thing. But Beckman herself was quite another. "Yes ma'am," she said crisply. "Very clear."

"Good," Beckman growled. "Dismissed."

As soon as the screen went blank, Becky turned on her heel and walked towards the door. As she got about half way there, Sarah stopped her.

"Agent Ivan?"

Becky stopped and turned towards Sarah with an icy stare but didn't respond.

There was no pretense of civility, from either really. "I think that we're already discussed this," Sarah said firmly. "But we don't refer to Chuck as the mark. He has a name. It is Chuck."

As soon as Becky stomped out of the apartment, Casey spoke for the first time.

"Sarah," he said softly. "Do you really think that making her your enemy is a good idea? She has Beckman's ear. And he can't hold out forever. Face it. Pretty soon she is going to be sleeping with him."

Sarah stopped to consider Casey's statement. It was impressive that he actually was concerned for her. He never called her by her first name. And his normal style would be to make a snide remark. "I don't like her," was Sarah's terse reply. "Not even a little bit. And maybe he can't hold out forever. But he's lasted longer than she expected. I'll take that."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck knocked on Casey's door exactly one minute before his briefing was set to begin, clearly to avoid having to talk to Sarah. After Casey let him in, he walked to his usual spot in front of the monitor without a word. He carefully avoided eye contact with Sarah as he waited for Beckman to come online.

"Okay team," Beckman said as soon as she appeared on the monitor. "We have a mission for tonight." "This is Avante Holdings," she said as a building appeared on the screen. "Our intel indicates that it may be a front for a significant narcotic smuggling operation. We have arranged for Agent Casey to pose as a member of the maintenance crew. He will wear a hidden camera while he goes through the building emptying trash cans. We would like Mr. Bartowski to monitor the video feed from the van. We would like to see if he flashes on anyone in the building. Agent Walker will provide security for Mr. Bartowski. We're not expecting any trouble but with this team, who knows. Any questions?"

"No ma'am," Casey replied for them all.

"Good," Beckman said. "Dismissed."

As soon as the monitor went dark, Chuck turned and wordlessly walked to the door.

"Chuck," Sarah called softly. Her glance in Casey's direction clearly told him that she wanted a minute to talk to Chuck alone. He quickly excused himself and went into the bedroom.

Chuck stopped as he heard Sarah's voice but didn't turn.

"I just want to make sure that you're okay," Sarah said.

"Not really," Chuck said sadly. "I'd be lying if I said I was okay."

"I know this is hard," Sarah said sadly. She had to grab the table to keep from running to him. "It's hard for me too. I'm really sorry. I just hope that we can get through this. I don't want to lose my best friend."

"Friend," Chuck whispered to himself in disgust as he turned and to look at her. For the first time he could see the anguish in her eyes. He could see that she was hurting, desperate even. Suddenly, his anger was gone like a balloon that had popped. He knew in that instant, that whatever else happened, he had to make her stop hurting.

"Don't worry," he said softly with as much of a smile as he could muster. "You're not going to lose your friend. I promise. It's just too hard right now. Give me a couple of days to mourn what I've lost, okay?"

"Thank you, Chuck," Sarah said as she turned her head so not to risk breaking down and letting him see her cry.

"I'll see you tonight," Chuck replied as he left the room.

After a few minutes, Casey could no longer hear any muffled voices so he figured it was safe to come out of the bedroom. To his surprise, Sarah was still standing in the middle of the room silently staring into space.

"He was trying to make me feel better," she said numbly in response to Casey's unspoken question. "Oh my God, I just destroyed this good man, ripped his heart out of his chest and stomped on it in front of him. And all he can think about is making me feel better. What am I doing here? Is this worth it?"

"He's a good guy," Casey agreed softly. "This situation sucks. That's for sure. Is it worth it? You're the only one who can decide that."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah watched the video feed as Casey walked around the building empting wastepaper baskets. Casey was careful to aim his hidden camera at every face that he saw to give Chuck a good look. Casey had finished servicing about half the building with no results. Chuck looked at Sarah and noticed that she sat with a blank expression on her face. The sadness wouldn't have been noticeable to anybody but him. But he saw it. He felt her tenseness. He needed to help her. Maybe he could lighten the mood.

"One good thing," Chuck said softly with as much levity as he could muster. "Casey's cover is safe. He is totally believable as a trash man."

Suddenly the tension in the van was gone. Disappeared like it had never been there.

"Maybe after he retires from the agency, it would be a good second career for him," Sarah said with a smile.

Suddenly Chuck flashed on the face on the monitor.

"Casey," Chuck said into the microphone. "That last man is Peter Quincy. He is a banker with known connections to organized crime. He obviously is laundering the drug money."

"Good job, Chuck," Sarah said with a smile as she used the computer to capture the information and send it to Washington.

"Why does Chuck get all the credit?" Casey's voice came across softly. "I'm the one who took out the garbage."

The smile on Sarah's face lit up Chuck's heart. It was almost like it had been two days ago. It felt like the breakup had never happened. It was just Chuck and Sarah. Chuck had to resist the temptation to hug her. His spirits soared. And she was happy too. He could feel it. _Maybe Ellie is right. Maybe if I just give her a little room, it will work out_.

Just then, Sarah's phone began to ring.

"That's strange," Sarah mumbled to herself as she looked at the phone. The ID didn't list a caller.

"Walker," she answered hesitantly.

"Yes, I'm secure."

"No."

"There has to be another way."

"I love you too, Bryce."

Sarah had to blink pretty quickly to keep the tears from being visible as she ended the call. She could tell by the look in Chuck's eyes that he was dying inside. Neither Chuck nor Sarah said another word for the rest of the night.

x-x-x-x-x

Becky Ivan sat in her apartment and smiled to herself as she put down her phone. There was one thing that she knew for sure. Well, make that two things. First, Chuck was one whipped puppy. Almost any woman would be able to get him into bed after hearing that.

And even better, forcing Sarah Walker to submit to her, making her say that in front of him had just turned her into a serious enemy.

"That's okay," she said to herself as her smile turned into a grin.

"I don't like her anyway."

x-x-x-x-x


	4. Just Friends

_This is not an original story. In fact it is one of my first. It was written at the beginning of season 2. The story was inspired by a series of discussions between BrickRoad and me talking through different storyline ideas._

_Warning: There is some adult content in this. Nothing major but please use discretion. I still don't own Chuck._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference. That's probably more important than ever now that the series has ended. If you want to keep the Chuck fandom alive and continue to read about these characters, you really need to think about rewarding the people whose hard work make that possible._

_Fair warning, this starts out a little rough from a Charah point of view. In fact, I think the saddest scene I've ever written is in this chapter . Don't worry. I promise no shippers were actually harmed in the making of this story._

_**Just Friends**_

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck was sitting in the cage working on computers. Well, he should have been working on computers. The truth was he was working on feeling sorry for himself. And at present that was pretty much a full time job. He smiled for a brief moment as he thought back to last night. For a while it was like old times. Sarah's smile could have lit up the city. But then Bryce had to call. Why did he let himself get his hopes up? Why did he let Ellie talking him into hoping? Sarah and he just weren't going to happen. _She loves Bryce._ The sooner he realized that and moved on the better off he would be. Chuck was concentrating so hard on feeling sorry for himself that he didn't notice Becky enter the cage.

"Hi," she said with a huge smile.

"Becky," Chuck said loudly as he jumped. "You startled me."

"Sorry," she said with a laugh. "I just wanted to thank you for last night. I had a really great time."

It was amazing how different she looked from last night. Although now that Chuck had seen her as a babe he could tell that she was intentionally trying to hide being attractive. It was hard to fault her for that. It was probably a good idea while working directly with Jeff and Lester.

"Do you think we could do it again some time?" Becky asked. "Maybe next time we could call it a real date."

Chuck really didn't want to hurt her. Here was this nice, attractive, single girl who was actually pursuing him. A year ago he would have been all over this. But this wasn't a year ago. "I don't know, Becky," he said hesitantly. "I'm not sure I'm ready to start dating."

"Please, Chuck," Becky said with a smile. "I really like you. We just seem to click somehow. I know that I'm being incredibly forward here. But you're hurting. I know exactly how that feels. Let me help you get over this. I'm willing to do whatever it takes."

She wasn't making much attempt to hide the double meaning in her offer. But it wouldn't be fair to use her like that. He would just be pretending that she was Sarah. "Let me think about it," he said. "I want to make sure that you know that it's not you. You're great. I'm just not sure I can make myself go on a date right now."

"Well, Chuck," Becky said over her shoulder with a sly smile as she walked away. "You know where I'll be when you decide you're ready. I'm from Dallas and we have a saying. It's like riding a horse. When one bucks you off, you have to get right back on. I promise that I won't buck you off."

As soon as Becky was out of sight, Morgan popped into the cage.

"Dude," Morgan said excitedly. "What could you possibly be thinking? She won't buck you off? You have to go out with her now."

"Still eavesdropping I see," Chuck said with a laugh. "I just don't think I'm really up to it right now, Morgan. I'm still not over Sarah. It has only been two days."

"Chuck," Morgan said firmly. "Dude, is there any real hope of you and Sarah getting back together?"

"I don't think so," Chuck said sadly.

"Then go over and talk to her," Morgan said. "Get over her. Man, it's not every day that a hot babe promises not to buck you off. I'm not exactly sure what that even means but it has got to be good, right? It sure sounds hot as hell."

x-x-x-x-x

Like Chuck, Sarah was pretending to work. She had a rag and was attempting to clean off the counter. But she had been wiping the same spot for a good twenty minutes now. Again like Chuck, she was actually daydreaming. As much as this cover job sucked, there were definite advantages. When the teenage boys were in school, they had about ten customers a day. Not only that, but it was built on a world class spy facility. Now, if she could just get her real job in order. She wondered to herself. _How did this situation get so messed up_? _This is exactly why spies don't get involved with civilians._ That point was drilled over and over again in training. She had violated one of the most basic rules that an agent had. She had fallen in love. And now she was going to have to pay the price. Her thoughts were temporarily interrupted by a customer coming into the store. That was odd. They never had customers in the morning. Sarah wasn't even sure why they opened so early. She was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't realize that the customer was Chuck until he was standing in front of her.

"Hi," he said hesitantly.

"Chuck," Sarah said, the smile automatically coming to her lips. "I wasn't expecting you. Is everything okay?"

"Everything's fine," Chuck said quickly with a grin as he recognized Sarah's agent instinct kick in. "I just came over to apologize."

"What do you need to apologize for?" Sarah asked as she stepped out from behind the counter to face him."

"I've been acting like a baby," Chuck said softly forcing himself to look into Sarah's eyes. "I've made you feel badly for something that you can't control. I feel horrible about that. I just want you to know that I'm very, very sorry."

He couldn't have said anything to make her feel worse if he tried. Here was the sweetest man in world, the only man that she had ever truly loved, standing there apologizing for being in love with her. It was simply heartbreaking. She knew there was no way to keep her composure looking into those huge, sad brown eyes. So Sarah wrapped her arms around Chuck wordlessly and buried her face in his chest so he wouldn't see the tears that were starting to well in her eyes.

"You're my best friend in the world," Chuck continued softly, speaking into the top of Sarah's head. "I can't lose you out of my life. If that means that I have to be your friend and nothing more then that's what I'll do. Nothing is more important to me than your happiness. And if Bryce makes you happy, then I need to support you. So, I don't want you to spend any more time worrying about me. I'm going to be okay. I just need to move on. I promise that I will."

Sarah just nodded and squeezed Chuck harder, still not trusting herself to speak. They stayed that way for a long moment. Finally Chuck spoke again.

"I need some best friend type advice," Chuck said, clearly trying to lighten the mood. "There is a new girl at the Buy More who just asked me on a date. Do you think that it's too soon? I mean we've only been broken up for two days. I wouldn't want to appear disrespectful to you."

Sarah was wrong a minute ago. That was the worst thing he could have said. He was telling her that he was going to force himself to move on. That fact made him easy pickings for someone like Agent Ivan. Sarah paused for a long moment to compose herself. Finally she felt like she could speak without breaking down. "I think that you should do whatever helps you get through this," she said. She knew that her orders were to encourage him, but that's as far as she could go. Thankfully her words were muffled by his shirt.

Sarah made no attempt to break the embrace. If anything she was holding him tighter.

"I don't know when I'll see Bryce again," Chuck said softly while rubbing her back. "I may never see him again. So I need you to give him a message for me. I need you to tell him that I think that he is the luckiest person in the whole world. Can you do that?"

Sarah nodded silently, still buried in his shirt.

"And you also need to tell him," Chuck said. "If he ever fails to cherish you, if he ever lets you down, if he ever hurts you in any way, I know that he is a trained agent, but I'll find a way to kick his ass. Tell him that Chuck said that."

Sarah called on every bit of training that she ever had to compose herself to be able to break the embrace and look into Chuck's eyes.

"Thanks," was all she could say.

By some miracle, Sarah was able to keep her composure until Chuck walked out the door. Beckman would be very pleased. Sarah had performed many tough assignments during her time as an agent. She had killed people in cold blood. She had seduced the most vile, evil, disgusting men. But today she had just completed the toughest assignment of her career. Her and Chuck were now officially just friends. As soon as he was out of sight she broke down. It's a good thing that no customers came into the store for the next hour because Sarah wouldn't have been able to help them.

x-x-x-x-x

When Chuck walked back into the Buy More he spotted Becky sitting alone at the Nerd Herd desk. She was busy writing up some paperwork and didn't notice Chuck. He wasn't sure how she had managed to avoid Jeff and Lester but he didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth, whatever that meant.

"Hi," Chuck said with a smile as he walked up to her.

"Hi," Becky said. Her eyes lit up as she recognized that it was Chuck.

"Would you like to go on a date with me tonight?" Chuck asked. "I mean if you don't have any other plans."

"I'd love that." Becky said as her face broke into a full fledged grin. "What are we going to do?"

"Well," Chuck said with an embarrassed laugh. "I guess I haven't thought through that part. We could always go to dinner and a movie. Would you like that?"

"Do you really think you're up to that?" Becky asked softly.

"I'm going to move on," Chuck insisted. "I have to be able to be up to it. I really appreciate your understanding. You've been great."

"Why don't we start slow?" Becky asked. "Come to my place and I'll make dinner. Then we can play some Call of Duty. I'm just learning the game and I could really use some help. Would you like that?"

Chuck hesitated. Yes, she was clearly willing to do whatever it took. But there was a pride thing involved. She needed to get something out of this too. "I don't want you to have to cook on our first date," he said with a smile. "How about if I bring over a pizza? I know the best pizza place that is really close to your apartment."

"That sounds great," Becky replied with a long laugh. "I was actually worried that my cooking might scare you away anyway."

"What do you like on your pizza?" Chuck asked casually.

"I like everything," Becky said animatedly. "I can't tell you how much I'm looking forward to this. I'm going to make sure that you have a good time."

"Well," said Chuck. "I really appreciate your understanding the situation. I'd better get back to the cage before Big Mike has a coronary. I'll see you around seven?"

"Sounds great," said Becky with a smile.

But then she said it. The thing that was about to doom the completion of her assignment, for tonight anyway.

"Oh and Chuck?" she called to him as he walked away.

"Ask them for heavy olives on the pizza," Becky said as Chuck turned towards her. "I love olives. It's my favorite part."

"I will," Chuck said with a sad smile as he walked away, suddenly much less enthusiastic for tonight's date.

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck was in his room getting ready to go meet Becky. "What do you even wear for a date to play Call of Duty?" he asked himself. He decided to settle on a pair of jeans and a blue polo shirt.

"Hi Chuck, what's going on?" called Ellie when Chuck walked out of his room.

"Hey sis," Chuck said with a smile. "I'm just heading out. I have a date."

"You have a date?" Ellie said as her face brightened into a huge smile. "I know that you kids would work it out. I must say, I didn't expect it so soon.

"Sorry sis," Chuck said with a sad smile. "I'm not going out with Sarah. We're over. I have to move on. I'm going out with Becky. She's the new Nerd Herd girl that I went to the beach with last night."

"No," said Ellie with a sad sigh. "Chuck, you can't give up on Sarah. She loves you. I know it."

"You're wrong, Ellie," Chuck said softly but insistently. "Sarah is in love with her ex boyfriend. She told me so. I heard her tell him that on the phone last night. It's over for us. I need to move on."

Ellie was not close to being convinced. "I don't believe it," she said firmly. "I looked into Sarah's eyes. She is in love with you. I promise. Don't give up on her."

"Ellie, please stop," Chuck said, much more loudly than he had intended. "You're killing me here. I would give anything for that to be true. But it just isn't. I don't know what you think you see in Sarah but you're just wrong. And if I don't move on, I'm going to lose her totally. Please quit telling me to hope. It hurts too much to hope. There isn't any hope."

"I'm right about this," Ellie insisted softly as she hugged Chuck. "But I guess you need to do what you need to do. Tell me about this girl. She works in the Nerd Herd? That must make her a nerd."

"Maybe," Chuck said with a smile as he broke the embrace. "But she is definitely the hottest nerd I've ever seen."

"How hot?" asked Ellie skeptically. "She can't be in Sarah's league."

"Sarah is the most beautiful woman I've ever met, except for you of course," Chuck said with a smile. "So Becky is not Sarah but she is clearly in the same league."

"Get out of here," Ellie said with a laugh at Chuck's corny compliment as she playfully slugged him in the arm. "Just do me a favor. Go slow. I know that you're hurting. Just take a breath before you jump into anything serious. If this girl can replace Sarah, she'll still be around in a week."

"I will," Chuck promised softly as he leaned in to give Ellie a peck. "Thanks for caring."

"One thing for sure," Ellie said angrily to herself as she watched Chuck close the door behind him. "Something doesn't smell right here. I'm going to find out what in the hell it is."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck had ordered the pizza before he left so it was ready when he got there to pick it up. When he opened the box to check on it, Chuck grimaced as he saw the olives piled on. He used to like olives but being with Sarah for so long had conditioned him to not having them. He knew that it was quite silly but he wasn't sure how he felt about olives anymore.

Becky quickly opened the door as soon as he knocked. Chuck couldn't get over the change in her appearance between work and home. She was obviously an expert at makeup. She looked lovely. She had on a pair of kaki pants that looked like they had been spray painted on. She wore a very sheer button up blouse that wasn't all that buttoned up. Chuck had to remind himself to resist the natural temptation to look down her shirt.

"Hi Chuck," Becky said with a grin as she gave him a quick peck and pulled him into the room. "I've been looking forward to this all afternoon."

As soon as Chuck arrived, Becky pulled him to the kitchen table and handed him a beer. As they ate the pizza, they made small talk for a few minutes. After they finished eating they started playing the game. It turned out that Becky was a much better Call of Duty player than she was letting on. She was not quite in Morgan's league but she was darned close. Chuck noticed that while they were playing Becky was sliding closer and closer to him on the couch. The longer they played, the closer she got. She had a habit of reaching over and touching his leg to get his attention. After playing for about an hour, Becky suggested that they take a break.

"So, Chuck," Becky said as she handed him another beer and sat next to him on the couch. "I know you like video games. Do you like any real sports?"

Chuck considered the question. "I guess," he finally said. "If a game is on, I'll watch. I'm not a huge fan."

"What about football?" Becky breathed as she leaned over and kissed him.

"Basketball?" Becky whispered, not waiting for any answer as she reached her hand behind Chuck's head and pulled him in for an urgent kiss. Chuck was hesitant at first but there wasn't much choice. Either participate or sit there looking like a jerk. So he quickly warmed to the action when he felt Becky's tongue pass his lips.

Agent Ivan sensed that the end was near. If she played this right they would be in her bed ten minutes from now. "How about baseball?" she whispered as she moved to straddle Chuck. Her knees were on either side of Chuck on the couch. She wrapped both arms around Chuck's neck and resumed the passionate kiss. After a few minutes of serious necking, Becky finally broke the kiss. With a sly smile she grabbed Chuck's hand in hers.

"If you like baseball," Becky said as she guided Chuck's hand inside of her blouse. Between kisses she whispered, "you must be a fan of second base."

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie was just about to settle down to actually watch a little television. Devon was working the late shift so she was alone. The fact was that her life was so busy that she hardly ever got to just sit and relax with a show. She certainly wasn't complaining. She had a full great life. But she was in uncharted territory. So much so that she had no idea what shows were even on Monday nights. Looking at the TV Guide channel she decided to try The Big Bang Theory. She had just settled in with her glass of wine when there was a knock at the door.

"Morgan, if that's you," Ellie groaned in disgust as she got up to answer the door. That would just be her luck. But it wasn't Morgan. She was surprised that when she opened the door, there was standing in front of her a very nervous looking Sarah.

Suddenly watching a television show didn't sound all that interesting. "Sarah, hi," Ellie said excitedly. "Chuck's not here right now."

"I know where he is," Sarah said sadly. "Actually, I came to see you."

"Come in," Ellie said soothingly. Once she took a good look at Sarah it was obvious that she was on edge emotionally. Ellie quickly led her to the couch and sat down beside her.

Ellie knew what this had to be about. She could plainly see the turmoil in her friend's eyes. But she decided to ask anyway. "Honey, you're shaking," she said with the concern evident in her voice as she put her arm around Sarah and rubbed her arm. "Is something wrong? What's wrong?"

"Ellie," Sarah said. She was clearly struggling to keep from breaking down.

"I need a friend."

x-x-x-x-x


	5. What is Love

_This is not an original story. In fact it is one of my first. It was written at the beginning of season 2. The story was inspired by a series of discussions between BrickRoad and me talking through different storyline ideas._

_Warning: There is some adult content in this. Nothing major but please use discretion. I still don't own Chuck._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference. That's probably more important than ever now that the series has ended. If you want to keep the Chuck fandom alive and continue to read about these characters, you really need to think about rewarding the people whose hard work make that possible._

_Okay shippers, you can come down off the ledge now. I'm thinking that the worst is over. In the original most of the comments centered around you not liking Becky. It's funny, in my planning for this story there was a lot of debate on if Becky should be a sympathetic character or evil. Obviously, I went with evil. If you've read my other stories, you realize that there is usually little ambiguity with my villains. They are really evil. I'm not sure that not liking Sarah necessarily qualifies her as evil. But she clearly doesn't._

**What Is Love**

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie had never seen Sarah in anything approaching this bad of an emotional condition. Simply speaking, she was a train wreck. She wasn't crying. But her eyes were glassy and it looked like the tears might come at any second. Her hands were visibly trembling and her upper lip was quivering. Ellie knew that she had to settle Sarah down before they could have any sort of meaningful discussion.

"Sweetie," Ellie said soothingly as she rubbed Sarah's arm softly. "Settle down a little bit. You're a wreck. Nothing could be this bad. You need to calm down for a second. Whatever is wrong, we'll work it out together."

"I'll try," Sarah said as she took a few deep cleansing type breaths.

"Come to the table," Ellie said as she almost literally dragged Sarah to the table. "I'm going to make you a cup of tea and we'll talk this thing through."

While the water was heating up for tea, Ellie stood behind Sarah and rubbed her arms briskly. When she sat Sarah's tea on the table in front of her she took a seat to her side with her own cup of tea.

"Okay, Sarah," Ellie said with a smile. "Now relax and tell me what's wrong."

"I feel horrible putting you in the middle of this," Sarah said shakily as she cautiously took a sip of her piping hot tea. "I mean, you're Chuck's sister but really, you're more like his mom. I get that. I know how much you love each other. I understand that you want to protect him. But please, please promise me that this won't get back to him. You're the only person I have to talk to."

Ellie smiled at Sarah's recognition. Her bond with Chuck was the strongest force in her life. It was nice that Chuck had found someone who recognized that and wasn't intimidated by it. "I do love him," she agreed. "I love him more than anything. And, you're right; I would do anything to protect him. But the truth is I love you too. You know that right? So why don't you sit back in your chair, take a deep breath, and tell me the truth why you're pretending not to be in love with Chuck when it's so obvious that you are."

"I know that looks crazy to you," Sarah admitted sadly. "But it's more complicated than that."

"No it's not," Ellie said calmly with a smile. "It's simple, really. You're just making it complicated. I'll prove it to you. Either you're in love with the man or you're not. If you're not, tell me. I'll believe you. Now which is it?"

Sarah just sat and looked at Ellie sadly for a long moment. Finally there was no denying the painfully obvious any longer. "I'm so in love with him that it hurts," she finally said. "I honestly don't know what to do. I've never felt like this in my life. I didn't think it was even possible that I could ever feel like this, that I could feel this strongly for a man. I just don't know what to do. I can't breath."

Ellie fought against the temptation to dance around the room, because Sarah was still clearly troubled. "I'm sorry but I'm confused," she said hesitantly. "That's the best news I've ever heard. We should be out celebrating at a club with a tall drink laughing at the tall men trying to hit on us. You do know that he loves you just as desperately, don't you? I don't know of any two people who are more perfect for each other. You're in love with this great guy who is just as in love with you, and yet you look like you're about to start crying any second. Why are you so messed up about this?"

"We can't be together," Sarah blurted out. "It just can't happen."

"Why?" Ellie asked firmly. "Sarah, talk to me. You're totally in love with him. He's totally in love with you. That's the hard part. We should be sitting here talking about what colors your bridesmaids are going to wear. You have to explain to me why we're not sitting here giggling like fourteen year olds."

Sarah looked up at Ellie for the first time. "I can't explain it," she said. "I have a very good reason. I promise. I just can't tell you about it. I know that's not fair. I wish that I could… but I can't. I just need you to trust me. It can't happen."

"Okay," Ellie said softly. "For the sake of argument I'll trust that you think that you have a good reason. Maybe we just have a different definition of what in love means. Love means different things to different people. You're a beautiful woman, Sarah. I'm sure that you've had men tell you that they love you to try and get you into bed?"

Sarah just nodded without looking up.

Ellie knew that this next part was the make or break time. "But here's my problem," she said. "When I just heard you describe how you feel about Chuck, I got a totally different vibe. What I heard was that you had met the man that you wanted to spend the rest of your life with, the one who you wanted to grow old with. He would be the father of your children, the other half of you, the one you've been looking for your whole life. I must be wrong. Tell me, what did you mean?'

Sarah's face actually showed a faint smile. It was a sad one, but it was a smile. "You're not wrong," she said. "I meant just what you described. Well, except I wasn't really looking for him. It just happened."

Ellie snapped the trap shut. "Then Sarah," she said pleadingly. "Sweetie, please open your mind and listen to me. You know that I love you. But you just can't argue it both ways. You're a brilliant, logical woman. If you're in love with someone like you're describing then they would have to be first in your life. And no matter what reason you think that you have, it would have to pale in comparison to that love. So if you really love him like you're saying, you'll eliminate that other reason. And if there is really something in your life that comes before Chuck, then you just can't say that you love him like you're saying. It's really pretty simple, don't you think?"

Sarah simply looked at the table silently for quite a long moment. "You know what?" she finally asked with a sigh. "You're absolutely right. There is something I've been putting ahead of Chuck. I'm so sorry to have caused all of this pain."

Ellie knew the answer, but she asked anyway. "So," she said with a smile. "The big question is what are you going to do about it? What is first to you?"

Sarah's response was quick and sure. "I'm totally and completely in love with your brother," she said as her face turned into a huge grin. "I can't imagine my life without him. This really isn't a hard decision to make. I honestly feel foolish for how stupid I've been acting. I hope that answers your question."

"I think that it does," Ellie said matching Sarah's grin as she got up to embrace her. "See how easy that was? Just like I said, you were only making it complicated."

"I'll need a couple of days to work out my other issues," Sarah said softly as they embraced. "They are real. But Chuck comes first, if he'll still have me. Please help me to win him back."

"These other issues," Ellie said with a smile in a matter of fact tone. "They have nothing to do with another man. That was always bull, right?"

"There is no other man," Sarah said with a sigh as she walked to the door. "There never was."

"Sarah," Ellie said after a long hesitation. "I think I know what your issue is. And I just want you to know that you don't have to hide anything from me. I won't be shocked or look down at you. I'm not judging you. Please, just work it out."

"What do you mean?" Sarah asked with a smile. "What do you think that you know?"

"Come on, Sarah," Ellie said softly as it became her turn to look at the floor. "Beautiful girl who works in a yogurt shop but drives a Porsche. You're a high priced call girl, right? I mean, it's okay. I'm not judging you. Does Chuck know?"

That got Sarah laughing. In fact she was laughing so hard that she couldn't respond for a long moment. "I'm not a call girl," she finally said as she continued to laugh loudly. "Ellie, I promise."

"Sarah, I'm so sorry," Ellie said quickly. "Please forgive me. I'm so mortified."

"Ellie, don't worry," Sarah said, still laughing. "I'm not upset. It was a reasonable guess. That would actually be a lot easier to explain than the truth. I'm hoping that when you find out the truth you won't prefer that I'd been a call girl."

"Light green," Ellie called to Sarah as she was leaving.

"Bridesmaid's dresses," Ellie responded to Sarah's confused look. "I assume that you're going to ask me. I've always looked good in light green."

Sarah ran back and embraced Ellie again.

"I've always been partial to light blue," Sarah said. "Don't worry. You'll look good in that as well. Let's hope we get the chance to fight it out someday."

"There'll be no fight," Ellie said with a soft laugh. "The bride always gets to choose."

"I love you, Ellie," Sarah said softly as she squeezed Ellie tightly. "You saved my life tonight. I'll never forget it."

Ellie was frankly a little surprised by the intensity of her embrace. Sure they were getting really close. But Sarah was acting like she'd never had a best friend before. "I love you too, sis," Ellie said as she returned the embrace.

"Hopefully we can make that title official soon," Sarah sighed as she broke the embrace. "That's sort of up to your brother."

"No it's not," Ellie responded with a laugh. "You never leave important decisions to the man. You know that. You are now officially engaged. We just have to explain that to him. I'm still looking forward to going out for drinks, getting sloppy drunk, and laughing at the men trying to hit on us at the club."

"Not half as much as I am," Sarah sighed. "Let's hope it happens very soon."

"Don't worry about Chuck," Ellie said. "When he comes home tonight, I'm going to keep him inside of the house until you give me the okay."

Suddenly the smile left Sarah's face, replaced with a look of concern.

"I just hope he comes home tonight."

x-x-x-x-x

The morning briefing had just gotten underway. Beckman, as usual, had taken charge.

"Agent Ivan," said Beckman with a growl. "This is getting incredibly frustrating. Are you going to stand there and tell me that you failed to seduce Bartowski again?"

"Sorry, ma'am," Becky said stiffly. "I'm getting close. He just isn't being very helpful. I'm starting to question his preferences.

Sarah, who was making zero effort to suppress her grin, couldn't hold in her reaction. "Please," she said with a laugh. "Maybe you're just coming on a little too strong."

"And you think you could do better?" Becky asked coldly as she gave Sarah a sideways glance. "From what I've heard, you've been trying for a year."

"Agent Ivan," Sarah said firmly as she turned to square off against Becky. "I'm not sure what you think has been going on here for the past year, but make no mistake. Give me five minutes and I could seduce Chuck Bartowski in the middle of the courtyard out there… in broad daylight. Give me ten and I could talk him into getting naked with me in the fountain. According to your report you've dragged him to second base for about five seconds after two days. So, yes, I could do a whole hell of a lot better. I'm pretty sure that Casey here could do better."

Casey knew that laughing in this situation would be the very worst thing. He could see Beckman plainly scowling. But he just couldn't keep it in. It came out pretty wet.

Apparently neither Sarah nor Becky shared his amusement over the current circumstance. Becky squared off against Sarah just as she had. They glared eyeball-to-eyeball at each other for a long moment. Neither gave an inch. Just as Casey made a move to step between them, Beckman broke them up.

"That's about enough of this foolishness," she growled. "We're all on the same team here. Am I understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," Becky said stiffly.

"Understood," Sarah said just as stiffly.

"Agent Ivan," Beckman said sharply. "I've been authorized to share some extremely sensitive information with you. The authorization comes from the commander in chief. This information is not to leave this room. Is that also understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," Becky said firmly.

"You've heard of the intersect project?" Beckman questioned.

"Yes, ma'am," said Becky cautiously. "The computer that cross references all of the intelligence data from all of the various agencies?"

"Correct," said Beckman sharply. "Mr. Bartowski is the intersect."

"No shit," said Becky softly. "Umm, I mean yes, ma'am."

"I think that you can now understand why we want you to keep Bartowski controlled," Beckman said. "I expect you to redouble your efforts. Make no mistake, if you can't be successful, I'll find someone who can be. Am I being totally clear, Agent Ivan?"

"Crystal clear, ma'am," Becky said crisply. "Consider it done."

"Dismissed," said Beckman.

As soon as the screen went blank, Becky turned on her heel and walked directly out of the room without saying a word.

"Have a nice day," Sarah said sarcastically as soon as Becky had left the room.

"Wow," Casey said with a laugh. "You two almost got into it. I was almost ready to get between you."

"That would have been a serious tactical mistake, Major," Sarah said with a grin. "Why would you want to keep me from kicking her ass anyway?"

"Who do you think would have to shampoo the carpet?" Casey asked as he laughed. "Could you please take her out to the courtyard first?"

"Speaking of that," Sarah said softly. "Can we talk?"

"Okay," Casey said. "But I need to get something on the table first. I think you were wrong here today."

Sarah plainly showed her surprise. "You do?" she asked sadly.

"Definitely," Casey said. Then his face turned to a smile. "I'm pretty sure that I wouldn't do a better job seducing Bartowski. Please don't give Beckman any ideas."

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as Becky walked into her apartment she ran to her closet and pulled out a briefcase. She sat the case on her table, opened it and carefully pulled out a cell phone that was hidden in a secret compartment. She connected the battery, turned on the phone and dialed a number.

"Jimmy, it's me. Are you secure?"

"Damn it. Shut up and listen. Are you secure?"

"Good, remember that assignment that I got called away on?"

"Yeah, to seduce the nerd."

"Well, that part isn't going to well. I'm not sure that he likes women."

"Shut up and listen to me. Remember we were talking about finding a big payoff and getting out of this fucking business? Well, I just found out that this guy is worth a fortune to the highest bidder."

"Well, Fulcrum for sure. We'd have to be very careful. I'm not sure I want to deal with those ruthless bastards. Hopefully some Middle East country. They have tons of that oil money. They're always looking for our weaknesses."

"I'm thinking that the bidding would start at a hundred million. It might go for four or five times that."

"No shit. We could buy our own tropical island and lay around naked drinking rum for the rest of our lives."

"Can you get ten men that you trust and meet me at the safe house in San Diego?"

"They have to be men that you trust. If we get caught on this one, we're dead."

"Don't worry. I can get him there."

"Jimmy, I've been trying to fuck him for the past two days. What in the hell do you think I've been doing here anyway?

"Don't worry. I still have a couple of tricks up my sleeve."

"No, we need him alive. At least until we get the money."

"I'll be there with him tonight. Have everything ready."

"If I have to. It would be better if he came willingly. It would raise a lot less suspicion."

"He has a bodyguard detail. One of them is a real class A Bitch. But I can get him away. I have a plan."

"Sure. I love you too."

"Don't worry. We'll be in bed together tonight. Maybe you should take a nap. I expect your best moves."

"Yes. I'll be in a very good mood."

x-x-x-x-x


	6. Love is a Razor

_This is not an original story. In fact it is one of my first. It was written at the beginning of season 2. The story was inspired by a series of discussions between BrickRoad and me talking through different storyline ideas._

_Warning: There is some adult content in this. Nothing major but please use discretion. I still don't own Chuck._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference. That's probably more important than ever now that the series has ended. If you want to keep the Chuck fandom alive and continue to read about these characters, you really need to think about rewarding the people whose hard work make that possible._

_Okay shippers, you can officially come down off the ledge now. I'm thinking that the worst is over._

**Love is a Razor**

x-x-x-x-x

"Okay, Walker," Casey said with interest as he handed Sarah a cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table across from her. "It looks like you're serious. What did you want to talk about?"

"I've never been more serious in my life, Casey," Sarah said. "I wanted you to be the first to know. I'm planning on resigning from the CIA."

"I know," Casey replied softly. "I figured that is what you were going to say. Are you absolutely sure? There is no going back from that."

"I'm sure," Sarah said as a smile crept on her lips. "I love him, Casey. He needs to be first in my life. The greater good can't be first for me anymore. Chuck has to be. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," replied Casey with a smile of his own. "I think it's great. Of all the billionaires and princes who have taken their best shot, my boy Chuck was the one to tame the mighty Sarah Walker. Who'd have ever thunk that? I wish there was someone I could tell. I feel like bragging him up."

"I wouldn't say tamed," Sarah protested as her smile grew into a full fledged grin. "I'm not at all sure that I'm tamed. That makes me sound like a lovesick…" Then she thought about for a second. "Okay, so maybe he tamed me," she sighed. "I see what you mean. I've never felt like this. I feel like a teenager."

"Somehow I think of you like a wild Tiger that's been trained," Casey laughed. "You might look tame… until you don't. Maybe somebody should warn the poor ignorant bastard before someday he pulls back a bloody stump where his hand used to be."

"I really don't think that Chuck has anything to worry about," Sarah sighed. "At least not from me."

"I can't tell you how hard I was laughing when I was listening to you and Ellie last night," Casey said as his grin matched Sarah's. "For what it's worth, I agree with you. Light blue would match your eyes a lot better. It's hilarious that she thought you were a hooker."

"Wasn't it?" Sarah said with a laugh. "Wait until I tell Chuck. We're going to have a lot of fun teasing her about that for years and years."

"Okay," said Casey with his face growing serious. "Now that we've had this disgustingly icky sweet moment, I'd like to talk to you as your partner for a minute. Are you sure that your resigning is what's best, for you or for Chuck?"

Sarah considered the question. "I don't see any other way," she finally said thoughtfully. "Do you? I need to put Chuck first. He deserves that. As long as I'm in the CIA they expect me to follow orders. There is just no way to do both."

"You realize that you'll be out of the loop operationally, right?" Casey asked gently. "Who will protect Chuck?"

"You're not going anywhere, are you?" Sarah asked softly. "Chuck trusts you and more importantly, I trust you. And just because I'm not going to officially be an agent doesn't mean I'll forget how to throw a knife or shoot. In a lot of ways, Chuck will be safer than he was before. Beckman had a valid point in assigning an additional agent. I'll be in bed beside him every night."

"Well, actually," Sarah continued with a laugh. "A fair amount of the time I plan on being directly under him. Maybe on the odd special occasion, I'll be on top of him. But you get the general idea."

Casey's groan was very loud. "I thought that we had something of an unspoken agreement," he protested. "I don't openly make fun of my partner turning all lovesick schoolgirl on me, and you resist making me want to shoot myself."

"Sorry," Sarah said as her eyes sparkled at Casey's discomfort. "That does seem like a sensible agreement. Can we forget I said that?"

Casey's demeanor suddenly grew serious. "Walker, I need to tell you something," he said as he looked at the table. "Remember the night when you went to Bartowski's to tell him that the replacement intersect had been destroyed?"

Sarah nodded.

"I was in the house that night," Casey continued. "I had been ordered to eliminate him as soon as the new intersect was up."

"No," Sarah said. "I was always afraid of something like that. You were going to kill Chuck?"

"Honestly," Casey said as he again met Sarah's eye. "I don't know. But the point is they issued the order. I have to admit, I was in the house with my gun drawn."

"John," Sarah said as she began to blink back some tears. "Am I going to have to fight you too?"

"It won't be me that kills him, Sarah," Casey said firmly. "That decision's been made. I can promise you that. I'll be standing next to you fighting them off as long as we can. But that's not the point. As long as they think of Chuck as an asset, he's not safe. You and I can keep him safe from the bad guys. I'm confident of that. It's the good guys that worry me. Someday he's going to stop being an asset and become a liability."

"What are we going to do?" Sarah asked with a huge sigh.

"There is only one thing to do," Casey said with a small smile. "We have to change their thinking."

"How?" Sarah asked.

"Walker," Casey said thoughtfully. "We both signed up for this life for the same reason, to protect the greater good, right?"

Sarah nodded.

"To do that, we've been trained to follow orders without question," Casey continued. "The problem is that orders don't always mean what's best for the greater good. Beckman is a person. She makes mistakes. Sometimes she loses track of what's important. Your quitting will keep Chuck safe from the bad guys for a while. But it will only be a matter of time before they decide that he's a liability. We can fight, and we would. But we can't win. There would be too many of them."

"We could run," Sarah suggested softly.

"From them?" Casey asked with a sad, sarcastic smile. "I don't think so. Sarah, you know better than that. It would be a million to one chance."

Sarah still wasn't convinced that they couldn't run. Sure it would be risky. But she was trained. She knew all the ways they would use to try to find them and how to avoid them. She had also planned ahead. But there was no reason to tell Casey that. If it ever came to that, he'd be better off not knowing anything. "Then what should we do?" she asked.

"Convince her," said Casey firmly. "Make Beckman see that she is wrong about Bartowski. Let her know how dedicated we are to him. Make sure she sees that we view protecting him as fulfilling our vow."

"Okay," Sarah said firmly as she motioned to the dark monitor on the wall. "I guess there's only one thing to do."

"Get her online."

x-x-x-x-x

When Chuck came out of his room, on his way to work, the first thing that he noticed was Ellie in the kitchen making breakfast. It looked like she was making pancakes. She was actually hard not to notice since she was singing at the top of her lungs. Ellie's singing always brought a smile to Chuck's face for two very different reasons. Not only was Ellie a very bad singer, but also she only sang when she was in a very good mood.

"Hi, Chuck," Ellie called as soon as she caught sight of him. "Sit down and have some pancakes."

"No thanks, sis," Chuck said with a tight smile. "I'm not that hungry."

"It wasn't a request," Ellie said firmly but with a smile.

Chuck knew that when Ellie took that particular tone, it was pointless to argue with her. It meant that she wanted to talk. So he did the smart thing. He sat down at the table and started buttering the pancakes that Ellie sat in front of him.

"So," Chuck said with a smile. "What's with your good mood? Singing and pancakes? Did Devon… umm, forget I said that. Please don't tell me anything I don't want to know."

"How was your date last night?" Ellie asked, ignoring Chuck's question.

There was no reason to tell Ellie about the necking. It didn't last that long anyway. "It was okay, I guess," he said hesitantly. "It wasn't really much of a date. We ate pizza and played Call of Duty. It was sort of like a date with Morgan, only more awkward."

"Nothing else?" asked Ellie with a smile as she sat across the table from Chuck and started working on her own pancakes. "No romance? I see that you were home early."

"Ellie," Chuck said with a quizzical look. "Why are you so interested in my sex life, or more appropriately, my lack of a sex life?"

"I have my reasons," Ellie said with a sly grin. "So it's still the lack?"

Chuck just gave her an embarrassed nod.

"Good," replied Ellie.

"Why is that good?" Chuck asked slowly, clearly embarrassed. "I'm glad that one of us thinks so. Trust me. For a guy in his mid twenty's the lack of a sex life is hardly ever a good thing."

"It is in this case," Ellie said with a laugh. "As a matter of fact, it's a very good thing. Sarah was over last night."

"Ellie," Chuck said with an exasperated whine as he slumped dejectedly in his seat. "Please. We've been all through this. Please don't make me hope. It's too hard. I have to move on. I know that you think you're helping but you're just stretching out the pain."

"Chuck," Ellie said excitedly. "She loves you."

"I know that you think that," Chuck said firmly as he got up to leave. "But Sarah is a hard person to read and I'm late for work."

"Sit down, dumb ass," Ellie said a little more harshly than she intended. "Just turn off your fear for two damn minutes and hear what I'm telling you. I'm not telling you that I have a feeling or that I hope. I'm telling you she is in love with you. Last night she sat in that same chair where you are right now and told me that she was so in love with you that she couldn't breathe."

"Really," Chuck questioned with a confused smile. "But if that's true why wouldn't she tell me? I saw her yesterday."

"I don't know," Ellie said thoughtfully. "It's a good question. She wouldn't tell me what the real issue was. She said that she needed a couple of days to work something out. Then she would start putting you first."

"Ellie," Chuck said skeptically. "That just doesn't make any sense. You must have misunderstood her."

"She is kind of a basket case emotionally," Ellie said with a smile. "That's true, isn't it? But there is no possible way that I misunderstood her. She was on the edge. I actually thought that she might start sobbing. I felt so sorry for her. She was really hurting. Chuck, trust me. She was a whipped, lovesick puppy. I truly think that she loves you more than you love her. In two days you kids are going to be back together, for good this time."

x-x-x-x-x

Beckman appeared on the monitor looking very annoyed.

"Agent Walker," she said firmly. "What is so urgent that it couldn't wait for tomorrow's briefing?"

"Well ma'am," Sarah said calmly. "I'm becoming concerned over the way we're supporting Chuck. I think that we need to talk about changing some things."

"Agent Walker," Beckman replied harshly. "You pulled me out of a staff meeting for this? I would suggest that you do your job and let me worry about the intersect."

"I'm sorry ma'am," Sarah said softly. "But I'm afraid that I can't do that. I've taken an oath to protect the intersect. And that's what I'm going to do. Chuck is the intersect. They are the same."

"Agent Walker," Beckman said sadly. "You're obviously hopelessly compromised. That can't be allowed to stand. We're simply going to have to make some changes."

Then probably the last thing that Beckman expected happened. Sarah's smile became warm and relaxed. "I'm not even sure what compromised means any more," she said. "If it means that I love him, then yes, ma'am. I do, with all of my heart. I'm no longer prepared to pretend that anything else is true. I also agree that we need to make some changes. Indeed, that's exactly why I'm here. I'm ashamed of myself that I've allowed you to treat him so poorly."

"You've allowed me?" Beckman asked incredulously. "Agent Walker, just who do you think you're talking to?"

"Ma'am," said Sarah. "I totally understand who I'm talking to. I'm talking to the only person who can help me. And if you would just pull your head out of your ass for ten minutes, I think I could convince you that I'm right."

"Okay, Agent Walker," Beckman replied angrily. "You've accomplished one thing for sure. You now have my undivided attention. I hope that your bags are packed with all of your warm clothes because you should be prepared to be immediately reassigned to a mission someplace in the Artic Circle if you can't convince me. Say your piece. How are you right?"

"General," said Sarah. "I've dedicated my entire adult life to the service of this country. As have you. This is no disrespect aimed at you. But we're just not treating Chuck in the right way. It's not right for him and it's not right for the country. Chuck Bartowski is an amazing man. He has an incredible gift. He's not an asset that needs to be seduced, controlled, and disposed of when we're done with him. He is a hero. He deserves our admiration, our full support, and yes, ma'am, our love. That's exactly what he's going to get from me starting right now."

At least Beckman's voice lost much of her previous rancor. "I'm afraid that this is too important for that approach, Agent Walker," she said. "He's not trained, doesn't understand the big picture, the dangers, the importance of following orders."

"With all due respect, ma'am, you're underestimating him," Sarah protested. "I agree that what you're saying would apply to most civilians. Chuck is different. He is a natural hero. He'll always do the right thing once he recognizes that it's truly the right thing. If anything, he's a bit too eager to throw his body into harm's way, to want to be the hero. If you want him controlled, well that's where I come in. I'm one hundred percent confident that I could talk him into anything… once I'm convinced that it's the right thing. He trusts that I'm looking out for him. It's the key component in why we're such a formidable team. And not to appear arrogant, but you or anybody else you would replace me with simply can't say that, and never will."

"Okay, Agent Walker," Beckman said even more softly. "There is some truth in what you're saying. I'll agree with that. But the stakes are incredibly high here. What if I disagree with your approach?"

"Well ma'am," said Sarah. "I've told you what I'm going to do. You can either support me or fight me. But if you fight me, tell whoever you send to bring lots of body bags."

"Agent Walker, are you threatening me?" Beckman asked pointedly.

"No ma'am," Sarah said quickly. "I know that it sounds like it. I'm honestly sorry about that. I genuinely have a lot of respect for you. I hope that's not in question. You're performing a difficult job that has zero margin for error. I'm simply describing the facts as I see them. I'd like to help you. But I'm simply not going to allow you to terminate the love of my life, not without a fight."

"And you would be willing to fight the entire government alone to protect Chuck?" Beckman asked.

"Yes ma'am," said Sarah firmly. "I'm really hoping that it doesn't come to that. But if it does, I'll have no choice. I love him. I guess I never understood before today what that felt like, or what it meant. Right now I'm a little overwhelmed at how intense it feels, wonderful, but intense. Frankly, I'm still getting used to the feeling. But the good news is that you'll never find anybody who will be more fanatical in protecting him than I will. It's just that you won't necessarily approve of my reason. So yes, ma'am. I'll fight you and all the impressive array of forces that you command all alone in his defense if I have too… proudly."

"Begging your pardon ma'am," said Casey softly, speaking up for the first time. "But she wouldn't be alone."

That's when the General realized that this was serious and she had better listen a little more closely. Sarah Walker was simply the best of the best. For her to stand up so boldly was incredible. As much as she was being insubordinate, it was also hard to be anything but proud of her. She was a warrior, had just said that she was willing to gladly die for him… to someone who could easily make that happen. How could you not respect that?

And there was a practical matter to consider. She could probably replace one of the agents on the team eventually without too much disruption. But if they both felt so strongly that they were willing to commit treason in his defense, maybe they had a point that she was overlooking. "Okay folks," she said with a sigh. "Let's all take a deep breath and calm down a little. What do you propose?"

Sarah mood was buoyed by Beckman's reaction. She was clearly considering this. "Several things," she said with a smile. "First of all we need to immediately send Agent Ivan packing. If anyone is going to be sleeping with him, it's going to be me. I'll have to admit that I have my own motives, there is no question about that, but it will also make him safer. Ongoing, Agent Casey will be with Chuck at all times at the Buy More and I'll be with him at all other times. Casey will spend his day poking fun of Chuck and I'll spend my time making sure he knows how much I love and respect him. When you have missions for us, we'll perform them much like in the past. The only change is that we'll seek Chuck's honest input and treat him as a partner. Oh, and he needs to be put on the payroll and addressed as Chuck or Agent Bartowski, not as the intersect."

"Major," said Beckman after a long pause. "What is your assessment of Agent Walker's plan?"

"I'm in total agreement, ma'am," said Casey softly.

"Okay, Agent Walker," Beckman said with a sigh. "You're either crazy or you're the most dedicated person I've ever met. And I don't think that you're crazy. We'll try it your way. Give Agent Ivan the message to disengage. I'm thinking professional courtesy would demand that she be given until tomorrow's briefing."

"Yes, ma'am," said Sarah. "Thank you, ma'am. I want to make sure that you know that I fully understand what you just did for me here today, how hard it was for you to go against your instincts. I'm personally and professionally very grateful. I'll make very sure that you never regret it."

"Sarah," Beckman said as her face broke into a smile for the first time. "Explain something to me. You just risked everything to be with Mr. Bartowski. That doesn't seem like something you would do. You have something of a reputation. You surely wouldn't do something this drastic for a simple infatuation. It must be more than that. What are your future plans? Are we going to have a wedding in the near future?"

"It's much, much more than an infatuation," Sarah said as her face broke into a huge grin. "I'm afraid that I can't explain it any better to you, not with words anyway. I'm not even all that sure that I understand it myself. But it's easily the most powerful thing I've ever felt in my life. As far as a wedding, we haven't had that discussion yet. I hope so, but he might have something to say about it. Then again, not to appear cocky, but I'm very confident that I can talk him into anything."

"If I keep my head out of my ass until then can I attend?" Beckman asked as she matched Sarah's grin.

"Yes, ma'am," Sarah said. "Of course you can attend. We'd be very honored."

"Send my invitation in care of the office," Beckman said. "Dismissed."

As soon as the screen went blank Sarah turned to Casey. "Thanks, John," she said. "Your support turned that around. I'll never forget it. But could I ask for just one more favor?"

Casey just nodded.

"Please let me tell Agent Ivan."

x-x-x-x-x

Becky was just starting to pack when she heard a knock at the door. When she opened the door Sarah was standing in front of her. Without waiting for an invitation, Sarah pushed past her into the room.

"Agent Walker," Becky said, not making any attempt whatsoever to hide her obvious disdain. "To what do I owe this… surprise?"

"There has been a change in your mission," Sarah said firmly. "You are to end your relationship with Chuck before tomorrow's briefing. After that, you will be given your new assignment."

"Says who?" Becky said.

"These orders come from General Beckman," Sarah said firmly. "Feel free to call her and confirm them if you wish."

"And what if I decide that I don't want to break up with Chuck?" Becky asked with an evil smile. "I think he is really cute. I bet he's really generous in bed. I'm oh so close to finding out. I have some vacation time coming. Maybe he needs a woman who doesn't lead him on for a whole year, then give him frostbite. I wonder how long it's been for him. I can't wait."

"Agent Ivan," Sarah said through gritted teeth, taking full measure of the obvious attempt to bait her. "I believe that you are aware of the many records that I hold at the academy. One of those records is for most consecutive victories in kickboxing. So let's be clear. If you haven't broken up with Chuck by tomorrow's briefing…"

"Then what?" Becky asked dismissively. "Don't let your mouth write checks that your ass can't cash. Those records of yours are ancient history. Your ass has had a few years of wear and tear since then, a lot of times being ridden hard and put away wet. That has to take a toll. And I was pretty good at kickboxing at the Academy myself. I was my class champion. It sounds like you were about to issue a threat."

"It's not a threat," Sarah said with a confident smirk as she turned to leave. Well, actually it was probably more like a growl. "It's simply a statement of fact. I'm pretty sure that my tired, ridden hard and put away wet, ass is fully prepared to cash your rather pathetic check. If you haven't followed these orders by tomorrow's briefing, we're going to find out. Be prepared for me to take matters into my own hands and break you up."

"Specifically your face."

x-x-x-x-x


	7. Love is a River

_This is not an original story. In fact it is one of my first. It was written at the beginning of season 2. The story was inspired by a series of discussions between BrickRoad and me talking through different storyline ideas._

_Warning: There is some adult content in this. Nothing major but please use discretion. I still don't own Chuck._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference. That's probably more important than ever now that the series has ended. If you want to keep the Chuck fandom alive and continue to read about these characters, you really need to think about rewarding the people whose hard work make that possible._

_Sorry shippers, I can't let it go that easy. Sarah has admitted that she loves him. Now she just has to tell him. That might be more of a challenge than she anticipates. There is still a little bit of angst to get over. I'm afraid that those of you who don't like Becky (and who does) are going to like her even less._

**Love is a River**

x-x-x-x-x

As he sat in the cage, Chuck's head honestly swirled. Try as he might to ignore it, hope had reappeared. Ellie was so sure. And what possible reason would Sarah have to lie to her? Why would Sarah even go over and talk to Ellie? It didn't make any sense. Sarah didn't like to talk about her feelings. That was one thing that he knew for sure. And what could Sarah have to take care of that would take two days? One thing that he vowed to himself, he was going to find out.

But all of those thoughts were driven out of his head as he saw Becky heading towards the cage. He had been trying to avoid her ever since their date. But he was trapped here in the cage. He really didn't want to hurt her feelings. She was nice. And she was certainly attractive and willing. But the truth was she was just coming on far too strong. He just wasn't ready for a relationship. And if she had known him at all, she would have known that he wasn't the type to casually jump into her bed, especially if there was truly any hope to get back with Sarah.

"Hi, Becky," Chuck said as he forced a smile on his face.

"Hi, Chuck," Becky said sadly as her eyes started to well with tears.

"Is something wrong?" Chuck asked softly. It was a stupid question and he knew it. Would she be standing there crying unless something was wrong? He just didn't know what else to say.

"I just came to apologize," Becky said as she looked at the floor. "The last thing that I want is to drive you away."

Chuck didn't want to hurt her feelings. So he played dumb. "What do you mean?" he asked with a soft smile. "How could you drive me away?"

"I feel like such a slut," Becky said as her voice broke a little. "I'm never that aggressive. I was just trying to help you. I hate to see you hurting. So I came on too strong. I'm so sorry."

"Becky," Chuck said soothingly as he stood up and embraced her. "It's okay. It's hard to call what you did a bad thing. I appreciate what you were trying to do. There might even be a point where I would be all over it. But not now, I'm just not ready."

"I know," Becky said with a sigh into Chuck's chest. "I want to be your friend right now. Someday, if you get over Sarah, maybe we can be more. But I'm dying to have a second chance. I want to show you that I can be your friend."

"You don't need a second chance," Chuck said softly. "You are my friend."

"Really," Becky asked, looking up into Chuck's eyes.

"Of course," Chuck replied.

"Then could we go for a drive today and talk?" Becky said hopefully as she reached to wipe the tears from her eyes. "We both have the afternoon off. I promise not to try and jam my tongue down your throat. I'll even keep my hands to myself. I just want to be your friend."

Chuck just rubbed Becky's back without responding.

"You're still hoping to get back with her," Becky finally said with a smile. "Aren't you?"

"I won't lie to you Becky," Chuck said with a sigh. "I would love that. I just don't know if it can happen. I'm a little confused by some things."

"Okay," said Becky softly. "How about this? You go over and talk to her. This other guy that she's hung up on, he's not around, right? He hasn't been for a while. And you are. So use that. If she is interested, stay and work it out. I'll really be happy for you. If she isn't, we'll go for a drive and I'll help you deal with it. Does that sound fair?"

"Do you really think that I should?" Chuck asked. It was an honest question. Becky was a woman. She knew how they thought. And Chuck… well, he just didn't.

Becky hid her face in his shirt so he wouldn't see her smirk. "Absolutely," she said as she squeezed Chuck tightly. "Chuck, you're still in love with her. You'll never forgive yourself if you don't give it every chance possible. I would stop just short of where she files for a restraining order."

She couldn't have possibly said anything that he wanted to hear more. "You know," Chuck said with a smile as he kissed the top of Becky's head. "I'm going to be kicking myself for a long time for leaving last night."

"I know," said Becky with a sad sigh as she broke the embrace and began to walk away. "I was really looking forward to it. I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't still. It could have been so great. But look on the bright side. If it doesn't work out with Sarah and you're ready, you know where I'll be."

As soon as Becky was out of sight her sad face turned into a huge grin.

"Crying," she whispered to herself. "Damn it, why didn't I think of that sooner? I could have sealed the deal last night. It would have been so much fun to watch Walker's face as she read that report. Oh well, I guess I'll have to settle for being a billionaire."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah stood watching the seconds tick off the clock. She couldn't wait for lunch time so she could go over to the Buy More and tell Chuck how she really felt. She could imagine the look of joy on his face. Sure, she was going to need to get over the hurt that she had let him feel for the past few days. He might even be angry at her. Sarah couldn't really blame him if he was. She was more than a little angry with herself.

But she also smiled as she knew that she could get him to forgive her. It may take a little groveling but she was willing to do that and more. In fact she was sort of looking forward to a little groveling. He needed to know that she would do anything to regain his trust. Sex was only a part of that, but a big part. If everything went well, Sarah was planning a night back in her hotel room that Chuck would never ever forget.

She was so deep into her personal fantasy that she didn't even notice Bryce enter. "Hi Sarah," he said. "I can tell by your smile that you're happy to see me too."

"Bryce," Sarah said in a shocked whisper ignoring his suggestion. "What are you doing here?"

"About that," Bryce said with a huge grin. "I was hoping you'd tell me. I got this urgent message from Beckman. She ordered me to report to you as soon as possible. Apparently you need help on some mission."

"No," said Sarah sadly. "I'm sorry Bryce. But you came all this way for nothing. The mission has been resolved. Now you have to get out of here. It's absolutely critical that Chuck not see you here."

"Why," Bryce asked in a concerned voice. "What's wrong with Chuck?"

"I'll it all explain later," Sarah pleaded. "For now would you please just get out of sight?"

x-x-x-x-x

Becky and Chuck sat in Becky's car just out of sight of the Orange Orange.

"Okay tiger," Becky said with a big smile. "Go get her. I'll be rooting for you."

"I'm scared," Chuck said nervously.

"Don't be," Becky said calmly. "Just let her know that you love her just like you told me. I'm betting that melts her heart. It would mine."

"What are you going to do?" Chuck asked. "I don't know how long I'm going to be."

"I'll just wait here for a while," Becky said with a smile. "If it doesn't go well, come back and I'll take you for a drive to talk about it. If it goes well, give me a call and I'll head home. Maybe I'll call Larry and see what he's doing."

"It's Lester," Chuck said with his own smile. "And are you really trying to make me feel bad here? Well, here goes nothing. Wish me luck."

"Chuck," said Becky as she held out her hand to bump fists with Chuck. "I'm totally confident that I won't be seeing you again until tomorrow at work. Now go get her."

As soon as Chuck left the car and was out of sight, Becky picked up her cell and dialed a number.

"Agent Walker, yes this is Agent Ivan."

"I have an extremely sensitive matter to discuss with you."

"Yes, I'm afraid it's urgent. General Beckman wanted me to check in with you for advice on my next assignment."

"Yes, Agent Walker. Could you please go to a secure spot in the facility?"

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck walked into the Orange Orange looking for Sarah. When he saw Bryce sitting there his heart sank. Everything that he had questions about suddenly made sense. How could he have been so stupid? That's why Sarah needed a couple of days to work things out. Bryce was going to be in town for two days and she wanted to get her fill of hot Bryce loving. She was in love with Bryce. Chuck knew that he was just a fill in for when Bryce wasn't around. Or, even worse, a cover to keep him controlled. Chuck's whole body went numb. The only thing that he could feel was the tears streaming down his face.

"Chuck," Bryce said. "It's been a long time. How have you been buddy?"

When Chuck turned to face Bryce, he could plainly see the tears running down Chuck's face.

"Buddy," Bryce said with concern. "What's wrong?"

"Bryce," Chuck said. "You're the luckiest man in the whole world. Tell Sarah that now I understand why she needed two days."

With that, Chuck turned and ran out of the store.

"Chuck," Bryce called after him. "Wait. Sarah wants to talk to you."

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as Becky saw Chuck walking briskly towards the car she smiled.

"Sorry, Agent Walker," she said. "I'll have to call you right back."

Becky ended the call just as Chuck got back in the car.

"Chuck," Becky said as she forced the tears to form in her eyes. "Baby, I'm so sorry. It obviously didn't go that well. Let's go for a drive and we can talk it through."

Chuck just nodded numbly.

"You know what?" Becky asked calmly. "My sister and I have this routine when we talk about serious stuff. We take the batteries out of our cell phones. That way no one can interrupt us. Give me your battery." Becky took her own battery out and put it in the glove compartment.

Chuck couldn't see that Becky's hand was on her gun inside her purse as she waited to see if he would comply. Well, actually he wasn't seeing much of anything. His eyes didn't really focus as he almost blindly handed Becky the phone. Becky smiled as she took her hand out of her purse and removed Chuck's battery. She placed it in the glove compartment next to hers. She then handed the phone back to Chuck who numbly stuck it in his pocket.

"Don't worry Chuck," Becky said soothingly as she pulled out of the Buy More parking lot. "This situation will be entirely different in the morning. I promise."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah walked back to the front of the shop with a very annoyed look. She wasn't sure what kind of game that Becky Ivan was playing but she was sure that she didn't like it.

"Sarah," Bryce said excitedly. "You just missed Chuck. He looked really upset."

"No," Sarah said as she ran to the door to see if she could still see him. "What did he say?"

"It was pretty strange," Bryce said in a confused tone. "He was totally crying. He said I was the luckiest man in the world and that he understood now why you needed two days."

"Oh my God," Sarah said to herself in a panic as she grabbed for her phone.

"Oh God," she repeated as she frantically tried to call Chuck's cell. When it went directly to voice mail Sarah left a frantic message.

"Chuck, it's not what you think. Please call me right away. I love you."

Sarah rounded angrily on Bryce. "Damn it Bryce," she screamed. "I told you that Chuck couldn't see you here. Why are you always screwing with my life? Now he's off thinking the worst."

"Sarah," said Bryce with the concern evident in his voice. "Calm down. What is going on? What is wrong with Chuck? Why did you need two days? And since when do you love Chuck?"

"Screw calm," Sarah said in a panic as she grabbed her bag. "I have to be at Chuck's waiting for him when he gets home. And he can't see you until I'm ready to have you explain things to him. I'll explain it in the car."

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as Becky was out of sight of the Buy More she turned to Chuck. The smile was no longer on her face. "I need your watch," she said flatly.

Chuck took a long moment to register what Becky had just said.

"Why do you need my watch?" Chuck asked, clearly concerned. That watch was his safety net. No one knew about it. When he glanced over at Becky he could see her now pointing her gun at him.

"I need your watch Chuck," Becky said firmly. "Right fucking now."

As soon as Chuck handed her the watch, Becky tossed it out the window.

"I'm sorry Chuck," said Becky coldly. "But I'm afraid that the nature of our relationship has just changed."

x-x-x-x-x

In the car on the way over to Chuck's Sarah tried to explain the situation to Bryce.

"So Chuck is in love with you?" asked Bryce.

"He's never said those words," Sarah said. "But yes, I think so,"

"And you're in love with him?" asked Bryce incredulously.

"I'm totally in love with him," Sarah said. "I've never felt like this before."

Bryce ignored the implied shot. "But you told him that you were still in love with me?" he asked. "Why would you do that? Do you realize how much that would hurt him?"

"Orders," Sarah said with an exasperated sigh. "Why do you think I would hurt him like that? Stupid orders. Beckman brought in another agent to get close to Chuck. They wanted me to end any hope that Chuck had with me to make it easier for the other agent. I begged her not to but she wouldn't budge."

When they arrived at Chuck's complex, Sarah led Bryce directly to Casey's. Casey was still working his shift at the Buy More so Sarah used her key to let herself into his place. She went directly to the equipment that they used to monitor Chuck's apartment and listened for a while until it became obvious that no one was home.

Sarah tried to call Becky's phone but when it also went directly to voice mail she didn't leave a message. Finally, Casey returned home after his shift.

As Sarah briefed him on the situation, Casey tried to console her. "Don't worry," he said calmly. "He probably just went for a drive to blow off some steam. I'll bet he is walking on the beach. Have you checked the location of his watch?"

It was clear that Agent Walker wasn't on top of her game. That's the first thing she should have done. "His watch," she exclaimed. "Of course."

Casey pulled up the location of the watch. It was on the freeway but wasn't moving. Casey told Sarah and Bryce to wait while he went to find the location.

After about twenty minutes, Casey called Sarah's cell. "I've got bad news." Casey said. "I found the watch by the side of the road. There is no sign of Bartowski. He must have thrown it out the window."

"Damn it Chuck," Sarah sighed, her frustration now becoming quite evident. "You have to quit doing these stupid things."

"You mean like telling someone that you love and who loves you that you are in love with someone else?" Bryce said softly. "You mean stupid like that?"

Bryce wasn't Sarah's favorite person at the moment. So she made little effort to appear friendly. "Yes Bryce," she snapped at his shot. "Stupid like that."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck looked at Becky pointing the gun at him as she drove. His initial reaction was anger. "Becky," he said in shock. "Is this a joke? If it is, it's not very funny. What's with the gun?"

"Sorry Chuck," Becky said with a grim smile. "We're going to take a little longer ride than you thought."

"What's going on Becky?" Chuck asked again. "Would you mind not pointing your gun at me? We're going seventy miles per hour on the freeway. Where am I going to go?"

Becky smiled as she considered that. "Let's make sure," she finally said as she handed Chuck a pair of handcuffs. "Will you please put these on, Mr. Intersect?"

As soon as Chuck had the cuffs in place Becky lowered her gun.

That cemented the situation in Chuck's mind. He was now captured. Without the watch, Casey and Sarah would have no way to track him. "So," he said softly. "Why did you call me Mr. Intersect? You must be Fulcrum."

"Actually Chuck," Becky said with a sly grin. "I'm a CIA Agent, or at least I was ten minutes ago. Now I guess I'm more like a free agent. General Beckman told me that you are the intersect today at our regular morning briefing at Agent Casey's. Agent Walker was standing right next to me."

"Now shut up and let me drive."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah was still waiting frantically for Chuck to return home.

Suddenly Casey burst back in the room. "I just got off the phone with Beckman," he said breathlessly. "She wants us to conference with her in three minutes."

Even before Beckman came online Sarah could not shake the feeling of dread that consumed her. Something horrible had happened. She could just feel it. One look at Beckman's face confirmed her worst fears.

"I have some very bad news," Beckman said stoically. "We've just heard from Agent Ivan."

Sarah leaned in to make sure she heard Beckman clearly.

"She's gone rogue. They are holding the intersect for ransom."

x-x-x-x-x


	8. Love is a Hunger

_This is not an original story. In fact it is one of my first. It was written at the beginning of season 2. The story was inspired by a series of discussions between BrickRoad and me talking through different storyline ideas._

_Warning: There is some adult content in this. Nothing major but please use discretion. I still don't own Chuck._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference. That's probably more important than ever now that the series has ended. If you want to keep the Chuck fandom alive and continue to read about these characters, you really need to think about rewarding the people whose hard work make that possible._

_There is a scene in this chapter that has always bothered me. In my original planning for this story, it was one of the main scenes. I had planned for Sarah to make an elegant prayer. But I could never make it sound right. So I took most of it out. I went another way in the re-write. I'm certainly not trying to make a theological statement here. But I do like the scene a lot better._

**Love is a Hunger**

x-x-x-x-x

When Becky pulled into the driveway of the safe house, there were four men waiting for them. Becky jumped out of the car and went immediately to one of the men. She threw her arms around him and gave him a very long and very wet kiss. "Hi Jimmy," she said as soon as the kiss broke. "I've really missed you."

Jimmy indicated Chuck who was still sitting in the car. "Is that him?" he asked with a grin.

"That's him," Becky said with a sly smile. "Are you ready to become a billionaire?"

"You know," Jimmy said as he kissed Becky again. "I think I could probably get used to the idea."

Jimmy's men took Chuck into the house and down into the basement. They tied him to a wooden kitchen chair fastening his arms and legs to the arms and legs of the chair respectively. As soon as they had him gagged and secured, the men left. After a few minutes Becky and Jimmy came downstairs together. Becky was holding a video camera.

"Smile for Agent Walker," Becky said as she pointed the camera at Chuck.

"You know," Jimmy said menacingly. "Becky here tells me that she couldn't get you into bed. What's the matter Chuck? My Becky isn't good enough for you? Or maybe you just don't like chicks?"

Chuck didn't answer. The question was clearly rhetorical. Besides, he was gagged.

"Anyway," Jimmy continued as he reached back and slugged Chuck as hard as he could in the gut.

"That pisses me off."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah felt the warmth drain from her body when she heard Beckman say that Becky was holding Chuck for ransom. She was so stunned that she left it to Casey and Bryce to ask the questions.

"How do we know ma'am?" Casey asked. "Have we had any contact?"

"We received a video," Beckman said. "I'll play it for you."

After a moment the video conference screen split. On the left side was Beckman. On the right was Becky's video. It looked as if it was shot using a webcam. The quality was very poor.

"_General Beckman," Becky's voice said. "This video is to inform you that I have taken possession of the intersect."_

The scene switched to Chuck sitting on a chair in the middle of an otherwise empty room. His arms and legs were bound securely to the chair. His mouth was gagged. You could definitely see the fear in his eyes as they darted around the room.

"_I'll bet you're asking yourself why I'm doing this," Becky continued as she reappeared in the video. "Well there are several reasons. Like so many others, I joined the CIA to make a difference in the world. It was hard. But I stuck with it. I've endured countless hours of training, learned tons of things. But after I graduated I find that all the CIA is interested in me for is as a whore. I've grown quite tired of that. So now, we'll be offering the intersect to several organizations who have expressed an interest. My expectation is that he will fetch several hundreds of millions of dollars. That will be quite enough for me to get the taste of government service out of my mouth, the off-color nature of that remark fully intended. I hope you're not disappointed that I can't allow you to participate in the bidding. I'm quite confident that I can't really trust you as a business partner. Naturally, any rescue attempt will result in the immediate execution of the intersect."_

At this point Beckman paused the video.

"Actually," Beckman said with the embarrassment obvious in her voice. "I think that we'll stop there. The rest is just Agent Ivan cruelly baiting Agent Walker."

"Please ma'am," Sarah said. "Let us see the rest."

"If you insist," Beckman said sadly. "But I'm warning you, it is not pleasant."

"_And Agent Walker," Becky said as the video continued. "I just wanted to let you know that you shouldn't worry about Chuck. I've told him all about how it was your job to get close to him and how hot your sex life with Bryce is. I think that telling him the truth about how you've been playing him for the past year is the least I could do for the man who's going to make me rich, don't you? At first he wasn't taking the news all that well. But eventually I'm sure I'll be able to convince him to move on and start his new life working with the winning bidder."_

Sarah closed her eyes as the image of Jimmy punching Chuck was displayed. She could hear his moan through the gag. They left the camera on him for a long moment so as to emphasize the pain on his face and the tears rolling down his cheeks.

"_And, by the way, Agent Walker," Becky continued. "He is really cute when he's scared. I've promised him that if he fully cooperates that I'll show him a night of gratitude before he begins his new duties. I'm actually rather looking forward to it. I'll bet that he is very generous in bed. It's a shame that it's going to be his last pleasure for a long time. Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, General Beckman. Thanks for all the training. It's really been a big help."_

At that the video mercifully ended and Beckman again took the entire screen.

Predictably, the rage in the room was plainly evident. "Have we identified the computer that sent us the video file?" Casey asked through gritted teeth.

"Yes," said Beckman. "Unfortunately, it's not much help. The video came from a public access computer at the University of Tennessee. The Google email address that was used was created at the same time from that same computer. Obviously Agent Ivan is using her training."

"Any signal from his cell?" Bryce asked.

"No, Agent Larkin," Beckman said with a sigh. "But I guess that's to be expected. The first thing anyone with any training would know is to not allow a cell phone."

"What are our orders, ma'am?" Casey said.

"I don't have to tell you that recovering the intersect, I mean Chuck, is our top priority," Beckman said. "If he falls into Fulcrum's hands it will be a disaster, for him and for the country. We're working every lead that we can. Hopefully something will turn up. I need the three of you to stand by and be ready to participate in a rescue mission."

"Yes ma'am," Casey said.

"Try and get some rest," Beckman said softly. "I'll be in touch the instant that we have a solid lead. I'll need you to be in top form. And Sarah, I'm really sorry. I know this is hard, for you in particular. Until we have something for you, you're dismissed."

As soon as the screen went blank Sarah turned to Casey.

"Do you have any ideas?" she pleaded.

Casey could see the desperation in Sarah's face. Her eyes were filled with tears. It was a testament to her training that she was able to remain even moderately composed. It broke Casey's heart to have to crush her hope.

"I'm sorry Sarah," Casey said softly. "I really don't. We're going to have to wait for a break."

The very last thing that Sarah would ever want to do is to break down in front of Bryce and Casey. And actually they wanted to see it even less. But she couldn't help it. "I'm never going to see him again," she sobbed uncontrollably as she finally succumbed to the emotion. "He's going to die never knowing how I feel."

"Why don't you go home and try to get some rest?" Casey suggested softly. "You need to be ready when we get our break."

But Sarah's sobbing continued. "He's sitting there thinking that I've been playing with him," she sobbed. Her crying made it hard to understand her. "He's going to die thinking that it was all an act."

"Come on Sarah," Bryce said. "I'll drive you home. You're in no condition to drive."

"No, Bryce," Sarah said firmly through her tears. "You need to stay here. I want to be able to tell Chuck that you didn't spend the night at my place."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck sat in the basement alone trying to come up with some kind of plan. He knew that he had to find a way to let Sarah and Casey know where he was. He had to fight the feeling of despair about Sarah and Bryce. He was pretty sure that he couldn't trust Becky and that she would intentionally try to depress him. But right now, that just wasn't important. No matter how Sarah felt about him personally, he was sure she would do anything to protect the intersect.

One thing that Becky didn't know was that Sarah had always insisted that he carry a spare cell phone battery. It was pretty sloppy of them to not search him. If he could only reach it he could turn on his phone. Chuck knew that they would be able to track his location if he could only get the battery in it and turn it on. But with the way his arms were secured all he could do was feel the battery through the outside of his pocket. There was no way he could reach inside his pocket. He was in the middle of his thoughts when Becky came down the stairs and removed his gag.

"How are you doing, Chuck?" she asked.

Chuck simply stared at her and refused to respond.

"Okay, Chuck," Becky said with a sigh. "Look, I understand that you're not really happy right now. I don't really blame you. But I came down here to give you a choice. Some people are going to come and test you to make sure that you're really the intersect before they agree to pay us an obscene amount of money. If you cooperate with us, things might not be so bad for you. If you don't, I'm afraid things are going to get very unpleasant. What do you say?"

"You'll never get away with this," Chuck spat out hostilely. "My people will find me."

"I'm afraid you're wrong," Becky said with a smile. "You see, Chuck, I'm just as trained as they are. Oh, I'm sure they're looking. But this is a safe house that is totally off the grid. They have no idea where to even begin to look. You could be anywhere in the world right now."

Chuck just looked deflated as he slumped in his chair.

"Tell me Chuck, is he good looking?" Becky asked softly with a sly smile.

"Who?" Chuck asked.

"That Bryce guy," Becky replied.

"I guess," Chuck said with a sigh. "He never did anything for me but most women find him attractive. Why?"

"I was just wondering," Becky said calmly. "Because at first Agent Walker was trying to be my friend. And all she could ever talk about before our briefings was how good he was in bed, of all of the things that she did with him - nasty things Chuck. She kept saying how she could never get enough. It was really unprofessional. But I have to say, I wouldn't mind buying a ticket for that ride myself. She said that he took her places that she's never been. Every woman wants that, Chuck."

Becky smiled at her sport as she watched the tears flow down Chuck's face.

"So you see, Chuck," Becky continued. "You're probably better off without her anyway. So, what do you say? Cooperate and make it easier on yourself?"

Chuck was now openly sobbing.

"I guess," he was able to finally choke out. "What do I have to lose?"

"Good," said Becky with a relieved smile.

"Do you think I could go to the bathroom?" Chuck asked softly between sobs.

Becky could clearly see that he was a whipped puppy. "Sure," she said with a smile. "As long as you cooperate with us, Chuck, you'll find that we're not so bad. I'll have the guys come right down and untie you for a minute so you can use the restroom, okay?"

"Thanks," Chuck sobbed.

The instant that they let Chuck into the bathroom, his sobs immediately turned into a huge smile. Of course he instantly knew that Becky was lying. No matter how Sarah felt about Bryce she would never openly talk about her sex life. Chuck was definitely sure of that.

This was the break he had been waiting for. He quickly put his spare battery into his cell and turned it on. First he was careful to cover the speaker so that no one would hear the sound of it turning on. He quickly smiled as he noticed that he had twelve missed calls from Sarah. He knew that he couldn't risk calling her but he couldn't resist listening to the first message. He ran the water to cover the noise and was careful to press the phone to his ear so that it wouldn't be heard.

When he heard Sarah say "I love you," his heart simply soared. The emotion in her voice was plain. Whatever the real deal was with this stupid, stupid triangle, Chuck felt for the first time that it might work out. Chuck made sure that the ringer was turned off and quietly put the phone back in his pocket. Then he made sure that he resumed sobbing. He walked out of the bathroom to be retied up with a single thought.

Sarah was going to be so proud of him.

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah numbly drove back to her hotel on autopilot. She really couldn't even remember getting into the car. As she drove up to her building the church that was three doors down from her hotel suddenly caught her eye. Even though she had passed by it every day for the past year, she had never thought much about it being there. Certainly, she never had come close to going in.

Sarah couldn't even remember the last time that she had been in a church. But the lights seemed to call to her. Almost like a moth. Sarah pulled the car in front of the church and sat for a moment. Something powerful was telling her to go in. When Sarah went cautiously inside she called out but the church looked to be empty. Sarah finally walked up to the front of the sanctuary and looked around.

"Can I help you?"

Sarah hadn't noticed the man before. He looked about her dad's age, if the graying around his temples was any indication. There was really nothing remarkable about his appearance. He was wearing a blue business suit. He could have just as easily been a stock broker.

"I'm sorry," Sarah said nervously. "I'm probably not supposed to be here."

The man smiled and stepped up to her. "Don't be silly," he said as he stuck out his hand. "My name is Bob, Pastor Michaels if you want to be incredibly stuffy. Let's settle for Bob. And you are?"

There was just something about this man who she had known for a grand total of twenty seconds. Sarah couldn't explain it but she suddenly felt at ease. "Sarah," she said with as much of her own smile that she could manage as she took his offered hand. "Miss Walker if we're going to be doing the incredibly stuffy thing."

"Well, Sarah," Bob said as he indicated the front pew. "Why don't you sit down and tell me what is troubling such a nice girl so much?"

There was so much wrong with that question. First off, nobody had called her a nice girl since… well, never, not anybody who knew her anyway. But she settled for the second part. "Is it that obvious?" she asked.

"Yes, Sarah," Bob said plainly. "It is. What's wrong?"

Sarah just looked at him for a long time. "There's a man," she finally said. "I haven't been treating him very well. I need to make that up to him."

"Well, Sarah," Bob laughed. "Maybe I'm missing something, but I really don't think you're going to need God's help in making up with your boyfriend. Something tells me you can get him to accept you back all on your own. What's your friend's name?"

"His name is Chuck," Sarah said. "But that's not the problem. I don't know where he is. I'm afraid that he is currently in a great deal of danger. I just need to find him so that I can tell him how I feel. He doesn't know… and that is hurting him. I've been so stupid. I'm afraid that's a big part of the 'not treating him very well' thing."

"I see," Bob said thoughtfully. "And you want God's help in finding Chuck for you and keeping him safe?"

Suddenly that sounded just plain wrong to Sarah. "I guess that makes me look like the worst kind of hypocrite to you," she sighed. "I don't come near a church until I want something."

"Don't be silly, Sarah," Bob said soothingly. "A lot of people seek God out for the first time when they are in crisis. Maybe that's why he allows for people to have crises in the first place. You can ask God for anything."

Sarah paused for a moment. "I don't know what to do," she finally said. "How do you ask God for something? We're not exactly buds. I'm most definitely not his favorite person."

"How do you know?" Bob asked softly. "Have you asked him? I've talked to you for a grand total of two minutes now. I'll bet you're a lot higher on his list of favorite people than you think. I know that you're a lot higher on mine than you think. I have an idea. How about if we ask him together? I'll do the talking. Not to brag or anything, but we sorta are buds. Would that be okay?"

Sarah nodded. "Should I get down on my knees?" she asked.

"Only if you want to," Bob said. "God doesn't care what position your body is in. He cares what position your heart is in." Then he gently grabbed Sarah's hand and bowed his head. "God," he began. "My friend Sarah here has lost her way. She's scared and at the end of her rope. She needs your help to find her road again. Please help her."

Sarah looked around for a moment as he released her hand, expecting him to continue. "That's it?" she finally asked.

"That's it," Bob replied with a laugh, clearly teasing her. "You were expecting incense and chanting… us to sacrifice a lamb maybe? I hate to break it to you, but it's been a couple of thousand years since we did that."

"And he'll help me?" Sarah asked hesitantly. "After that?"

"He heard our prayer," Bob said insistently. "How he chooses to answer is sort of up to him."

Just as Bob began praying, Casey ran into the church looking for her. They had to get moving right away. He was going to rush in and tell her the news when something made him hesitate. As he stood and listened to Bob's prayer, he realized that this was something that she needed to do. Figuring that they could use all of the help they could get, Casey bowed his head and silently joined them in praying.

"How did you know I was here?" Sarah asked in surprise as Casey walked up to the front of the church where Sarah and Bob were sitting.

"I came looking for you and saw your car," Casey said softly. "I figured you'd be in here."

"Okay," Bob said with a grin. "If this is Chuck, then this is some kind of record."

"It's not Chuck," Sarah said. "This is John. He is helping me look for Chuck."

Casey saw the anticipation and concern in Sarah's eyes. It was the concern that accompanied renewed hope. "I'm thinking that you might want to consider praying more often," Casey said as his face lit up into a grin. "Come on. We just got a signal from Bartowski's cell. He must have figured out a way to turn it on. He is in San Diego."

Sarah had never heard better news in her life, ever, ever. "Thank you," she sighed as she leaned into Bob's shoulder, slumped in relief.

"You're welcome," Casey said sarcastically.

"I wasn't really talking to you," Sarah said with a half smile. "But thank you too."

"I know who you were talking to," Casey replied matching Sarah's smile. "Let's go get him."

"Bob," Sarah said. "I have to run. But you just saved my life. Do you marry people?"

"I didn't do anything," Bob said with a laugh. "I didn't even get to break out the incense. But I'd be honored to marry you and Chuck. Maybe if you get another chance to talk to him, you should think about not wasting it. It's the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live."

"Trust me," Sarah said as she stood up. "I won't. I've never heard that before. Is it from scripture?"

"It's from a song," Bob said with a laugh. "The Rose? Bette Midler? Maybe you're too young."

"I don't pay attention to music much," Sarah said. "I'm sure that Chuck will know about it. That's his thing."

"Come and see me again," Bob said. "I'd like to hear how this turns out. Even if you don't feel comfortable coming to a service, maybe we could just chat. Bring Chuck. I'd like that."

"I promise," Sarah called over her shoulder as she followed Casey outside. "I'd like it too. Thanks again."

They both ran and quickly got into their cars.

Sarah couldn't help the smile that came to her face as she drove. Even though the situation was still very grim, she now had hope. She also knew that if she was ever fortunate enough to marry Chuck where the ceremony would take place. The tiny church that she had passed so many times without even thinking about it was now part of her heart forever… as was her newest friend, Pastor Bob. But first things first. Sarah accelerated onto the freeway.

"Please hang on, Chuck. We're coming."

x-x-x-x-x


	9. Rescue Mission

_This is not an original story. In fact it is one of my first. It was written at the beginning of season 2. The story was inspired by a series of discussions between BrickRoad and me talking through different storyline ideas._

_Warning: There is some adult content in this. Nothing major but please use discretion. I still don't own Chuck._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference. That's probably more important than ever now that the series has ended. If you want to keep the Chuck fandom alive and continue to read about these characters, you really need to think about rewarding the people whose hard work make that possible._

**Rescue Mission**

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah was following Casey and Bryce down the freeway. She was getting very frustrated that Casey wasn't driving faster. Actually Casey was topping ninety and had almost caused several wrecks dodging in and out of traffic. But it was obvious that Casey's Crown Vic was no match for the top end performance of Sarah's Porsche. Sarah was very tempted to leave them and get to Chuck's location as soon as possible. After all, her car could go twice as fast. But after thinking about it she decided that she couldn't do anything until they were all there anyway. And if she was sitting there by herself, she would just be tempted to do something stupid. It would probably be best for them to arrive together.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity on the road, they arrived at the location. The house appeared to be in a normal looking upscale suburban neighborhood. Sarah smiled to herself. It was a perfect house for an agent's 'off the grid' hiding spot. Someday soon, she was going to have to tell Chuck about her own similar house in Baltimore. There would be no more secrets kept from him. Hopefully she would be able to figure out a way to get Chuck off the grid for a couple of days to take him there. They could probably have a good time playing house.

Casey drove past the house and continued until he came to a convenience store parking lot about three blocks away. Sarah followed him into the parking lot. She quickly parked the Porsche and got into the back seat of Casey's car. He then drove to a spot where they could see the house but was down the street a bit.

"Okay," Sarah said as she took out her Glock and racked a round into the firing chamber. "Let's go get him."

She immediately felt Casey's hand grab her shoulder. "Wait a minute," he hissed. "Are you crazy?"

"Chuck is in there," Sarah said with the concern evident in her voice. "What are we waiting for?"

"For one thing," Casey said. "All we know for sure is that Chuck's cell phone is in there. We're only hoping that Chuck is with it. For another, we don't have any idea how many men are in there or what room they're holding Chuck in. This could very well be a trap. They could very well be sitting there waiting for us. Barging in there would only get Bartowski, and probably us, killed."

"Casey," Sarah pleaded. "Please, we have to risk it. Who knows what Chuck is going through right now? He might not have any time for us to wait."

"Casey's right," Bryce said softly. "Sarah, we need to have some intel if we're going to have a reasonable chance of success. I know that you're emotional about this but you need to start thinking like an agent if you ever want to see him again."

Bryce was currently skating on some very thin ice. His moronic presuming to lecture her was Sarah's very worst thing. It had been the cause of many, many fights between them. "Then what do you propose?" Sarah asked as she shot Bryce an icy stare.

Bryce knew full well that she was pissed at him. For a second, it was like old times. "I'm going to become Fulcrum," he said with a wry smile. "And I'll want to inspect the merchandise."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck had been sitting in the basement in the same position for several hours. He decided to try and get some sleep but the uncomfortable position he was in was proving that difficult. Finally Becky walked down the stairs with a tray of food. Two of the men that had tied him up were with her.

"Hi Chuck," Becky said calmly. "Are you hungry?"

Chuck thought about his answer. The last thing he wanted was to appear to give in. But his stomach was growling. "I could eat," he finally said with a hint of sarcasm. "Are you going to feed me?"

"Would you like that?" Becky said with a sly smile. "I'll let them untie you so you can eat if you can convince me that you'll be a good boy."

"A good boy?" Chuck repeated with a caustic laugh. "What would I do? Let's see. I'm unarmed against a trained super agent and her two very large henchmen. I'm sorry, is henchmen the correct term? I mean no offense. Do you prefer thug?"

Becky laughed as she nodded to the men to untie Chuck. "You're really a charmer," she said still laughing as she motioned for Chuck to sit at the table. "I'm actually going to miss you. I hope burgers and fries are okay."

"It's better than that pizza last night," Chuck said with a grumble as he hungrily attacked his burger. "It took a long time to get the taste of all those olives out of my mouth."

"Is that why you turned me down last night?" Becky asked with a smile as she sat across the table from him. "Your stomach was upset from all the olives?"

"That's really bothering you, isn't it?" Chuck asked with an ironic smile.

"I guess it really is," Becky said as she nodded for the men to leave. "It's a professional pride thing. You're the first man that I haven't been able to seduce."

"Well, it's nice to be unique, I suppose," Chuck said more to himself than to Becky.

"I've come down here to give you one last chance," Becky said with a grin.

Chuck couldn't believe his ears. That was the very, very last thing that he expected her to say. "You're saying that you want to have sex with me?" Chuck asked in a frustrated voice. "Tell me, Becky, what color is the sky in your world? Do you expect me to believe that you have feelings for me now?"

If Becky was offended, she didn't show it. "No, Chuck," she said calmly. "Of course not. I'm not saying that I want to have sex with you. I really don't. No offense. You're not really my type. I'm saying that I'd be willing to. I have my own reasons. First, I'd like to keep my perfect record intact. Maybe that's stupid but it's sort of a professional pride thing. But most of all, I'd like to tape it and send a copy to Agent Walker."

"Why would you want to do that?" Chuck asked in a puzzled tone.

"Let's just say that Agent Walker and I aren't really friends," Becky said with a smile. "And I'm thinking that seeing us go at it would put her over the edge. It would be fun."

Chuck just stared at her incredulously.

"What do you say?" Becky asked seductively as she began to slowly unbutton her blouse. "I'll make sure that you have a really good time. The CIA has made sure that I know exactly what a man wants in bed. And it would be a good way for both of us to get back at her."

"Why would I want to get back at Sarah?" Chuck asked softly. "You know that I'm in love with her."

"Come on Chuck," said Becky angrily. "Wake up. Agent Walker is the same as me. Tell me. Did you have any clue that I was playing you for the past two days?"

Chuck shook his head sadly.

"Well, Sarah has had the same training that I have," Becky continued loudly. "We went to the same academy for goodness sake. It's been her job for the past year to get close to you. And she's fooled you just like I did. But trust me. She has her real life just like I do. Where I have Jimmy, she has Bryce. We're exactly the same. Exactly. Now, do you want to get back at her or do you want to stay a chump forever? I'm never going to ask you again."

"I'm sorry, Becky," Chuck said sadly as he shook his head. "I can't."

"Suit yourself, chump," Becky said loudly as she stood up and sent the chair that she was sitting in flying across the room. "I'll send the guys back down to tie you back up."

If she knew it or not, Becky couldn't have possibly done anything better for him. As Becky stormed up the stairs, Chuck's sad look quickly turned into a grin. Becky had just confirmed for him how Sarah really felt. If Sarah didn't love him, why would she care about seeing a tape of them going at it?

"Thank you, Becky," he said to himself. "That actually helped a lot."

"And I didn't have to catch some horrible disease."

x-x-x-x-x

"So Bryce," Sarah said in a skeptical tone. "How are you going to be able to convince them that you're Fulcrum? I don't understand."

"Easy," Bryce said confidently as he typed on his laptop. "I've spent the past six months infiltrating Fulcrum. From my contacts I've learned how they are communicating. They are using a message board with a code. The bidding is up to three hundred million. I'm going to bid twice that. And I'll demand to see for myself that they really have the intersect. They must be expecting that. So once they set up the meeting, I'll scout the house. If I get a chance, I'll give Chuck an earpiece. That way we'll be able to talk to him."

Sarah turned to Casey. "What do you think?" she asked. Sarah didn't notice the look of surprise that came over Bryce's face. But Casey did.

Casey turned to Bryce. "You do realize," he said. "They are going to be very cautions dealing with Fulcrum. They are going to be looking for electronics. How are you going to carry an earpiece?"

"I have a compartment in the heel of my shoe," Bryce said. "It's lead lined. If they do a sweep, they won't pick it up. Hopefully I can talk them into letting me be alone with Chuck for a minute to slip it to him."

"You're going to be totally on your own," Casey said firmly. "You know that, right? Walker and I will stay here. If they make you, it's going to be bad. We're not going to be able to help."

"I'm used to being on my own," Bryce said flatly as he threw a knowing glance at Sarah. "Does anybody have any better idea?"

"Not really," Casey said with a sigh as he turned to Sarah. "It's either this or the three of us storm in there blind. I'd say that Bryce's idea gives us the best shot."

"Good," Bryce said with a smile. "The meeting is set up. I have to be at the mall in a half hour. Sarah, I need the keys to the Porsche."

Sarah knew why Bryce was smiling. He had never driven her car before. It was a sore spot with him. He had asked many, many times. It was clearly easier to get Agent Walker in bed than it was to drive her car… and less risky. "Bryce," Sarah said with a groan as she reluctantly handed him the keys. "If you scratch my car, you'll…"

"Yeah," Bryce said with a confident smile as he finished Sarah's sentence. "I know. I'll wish I had never been born."

x-x-x-x-x

Bryce had to hustle to get to the meeting place in time. They had picked a food court in the middle of a crowded mall. Bryce laughed to himself as he saw the sight. The four large men standing there in suits waiting couldn't possibly be more conspicuous. Bryce walked up to them and gave them the code word.

"Agent Noname," said one of the men. "Would you please follow us?"

Bryce had to bite his lip to keep from laughing. _Do these morons really think that's my name?_"

They led Bryce out into the parking lot and to a grey panel van. Once they were inside the van they searched him for weapons and performed a through electronic sweep. "Agent Noname," the same man finally said as he handed Bryce a hood. "If you would please put this over your head. We won't cuff you out of professional courtesy but please make no attempt to remove the hood until we're inside of our destination."

Bryce tried to estimate the amount of time that they were driving. It seemed to him that they were taking far longer to get there than he anticipated. Hopefully they were just taking a round about route to prevent them from being tailed. Finally the van slowed as it obviously turned into a garage. Bryce could hear the automatic opener as the door closed behind them. He was told to remove his hood and led into the house. A tall very attractive, dark haired woman stepped up to him.

"Becky Ivan," Becky said with a smile as she extended her hand. "And you are…?"

"In a hurry," Bryce said as he narrowed his eyes. "Can we possibly get down to business, Miss Ivan? May I please see the merchandise?"

"Not much for pleasantries, I see," Becky said curtly. "Fine, he's in the basement. We'll take you down to see him."

"I'll need to go alone," Bryce said firmly. "And if I'm not mistaken, the amount of money that we're offering you should be pleasantry enough. Perhaps after our business is complete we can have a cup of tea and chat.

"Alone," Becky questioned as her brow furrowed. "Why on earth would you need to be alone?"

"Miss Ivan," Bryce said sharply. "We at Fulcrum have been franticly looking for the intersect for the past year. We are probably the only organization outside of government who can tell for sure if you really have the intersect or just some poor random guy. It doesn't seem fair to us that you witness our validation techniques and share that knowledge with our competitors. Wouldn't you agree?"

"And if I refuse?" Becky asked.

"Then, Miss Ivan," Bryce said calmly but firmly. "In that case, I'm afraid that we will be unable to do business. Once word gets out that Fulcrum was unable to certify the intersect as genuine, I'm afraid that your bids are going to be depressed significantly. You are about to make a decision that could cost you several hundreds of millions dollars."

Becky started at Bryce for a long moment. "Fine," she finally said with a sigh. "Will ten minutes suffice?"

"More than enough," Bryce said with a smile. "I should be able to be done in half that."

"Okay," Becky said. "Wait here for a minute while I go and make sure that he is going to cooperate.

Fine," Bryce replied. As he looked around the house he counted ten men. The house was a classic ranch style. The door from the garage was in about the middle of the house. Directly across from it was the stairs that led to the basement. To the right was the kitchen and dining area. In front of that was a living type room. It looked like most of the men were gathered around a big screen TV watching a football game. The front door was off the living room. In the back of the house, there appeared to be a den with a door that led to the back yard. The men looked relaxed. They obviously weren't anticipating any trouble. After a couple of minutes, Becky reappeared and indicated that he could go downstairs.

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck was just about to fall asleep when he saw Becky come back down the stairs. She walked up to him and removed his gag.

"Okay, Chuck," Becky said. "It's go time. This is the moment that will determine how the rest of your stay with us will be spent. A man is going to come down and test you to make sure that you're really the intersect. We really need you to step up here, Chuck. If you don't, things are going to get really unpleasant. "Do you understand?"

Chuck just looked at her.

"Chuck," Becky said. "I'm not kidding here. This is as serious as it gets. Please, don't make me get barbaric. I really don't want to. But trust me, I will if I have to. You don't want that, right?"

"Of course not," Chuck said.

"Good. I'll tell you what," Becky said with a smile and she walked towards the stairs. "If I get a good report, I get you a reward. You don't want sex… maybe a nice juicy steak."

Chuck waited for the man to come down the stairs. He could hear his footsteps as he hit each step. Chuck dreaded whatever test was going to be performed. He closed his eyes at the horror.

"Hi Chuck," Bryce said softly. "I'll bet you're a hell of a lot happier to see me now then the last time you saw me."

"Bryce," Chuck whispered in amazement. "How are you here?"

"Well, Chuck," Bryce said softly. "I convinced them that I'm Fulcrum and we needed to make sure that they really have the intersect."

"How's Sarah?" Chuck whispered as tears began to form in his eyes.

Bryce smiled sadly that even in this situation, Chuck's first thought clearly was for Sarah. They were really crazy about each other. It was nice… and sad at the same time. "She's fine," he said in a hushed tone as he took the earpiece out of his shoe. "She's in the car about a hundred yards down the road with Casey. She's kind of frantic right now worried about you. By the way, you're totally wrong about Sarah and me. I haven't talked to her since the last time we were all together. I had just gotten to the Orange Orange about five minutes before you did."

"Then why did she tell me about her being in love with you?" Chuck asked.

"She needs to tell you about that," Bryce said with a smile as he put the earpiece in Chuck's ear. "But the short answer is that Beckman ordered her."

"It's funny," Bryce said as he fished the cell phone out of Chuck's pocket and removed the battery. "You called me the luckiest man in the world earlier. I know that if you looked around right now you might dispute this. But the fact is you're the luckiest man in the world. I've never seen her like this. Now, if we can just get you out of here alive, maybe you can start living the life that you deserve.

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah and Casey sat in the car parked down the street. It had been well over an hour since Bryce had left. Finally they saw the grey van pull into the driveway and into the garage. Sarah was on pins and needles as they waited for word from Bryce. There were so many things that could go wrong. But suddenly Sarah heard Bryce's voice over her earpiece. And then, beyond her wildest hope, came Chuck's voice. It actually took a moment for Sarah to gather her composure.

"Chuck," Sarah said softly. "I don't want you to say anything. Just cough if you can hear me."

The sound of Chuck's cough brought tears of relief to Sarah's eyes.

"Thank God," Sarah sighed. "Chuck, this might sound strange in this circumstance. But I made a promise that if I ever got another chance to talk to you that I wouldn't waste it. So this is Sarah talking for a minute, not Agent Walker. I need you to listen very carefully to me. I can't put into words how much I am in love with you. I can't imagine my life without you. I need you to know that. I'm sorry that the first time I've said those words to you wasn't in person. And I know that I've caused you a lot of pain over the past year really, but especially for the past few days. I'm so, so sorry. You'd be right to be pissed at me. I really don't have an acceptable excuse. I've suffered a lot too. I need you to know that as soon as we get you out of there, I'm going to do anything it takes to make sure the memory of that pain eventually fades away. Yes, you heard me right. I said anything."

Sarah paused for a moment to wipe her eyes.

"Having said that," Sarah continued softly. "Sarah's done talking for a while. This is a very serious situation. So now you're talking to Agent Walker. In order to get out of this, I'm going to have to insist that you to do everything exactly as we plan. I promise you that if you do exactly what I say, we'll get you out of there. You're both the man I've swore to protect and the love of my life. God help the poor sonofabitch who gets in my way. Part of the deal when I was negotiating with Beckman to allow us to become a permanent couple is that I would be fanatical to protect you. I think you know me well enough to know how easy that promise was to make. I'll not compromise on your safety, not even with my boyfriend. And I've been known to be a little hot headed sometimes. So I also promise that if you don't do exactly as I say, I'll break two of your fingers. And I'm not kidding one bit, Chuck. Just cough if you understand."

Boyfriend sounded pretty juvenile but it was a start. She didn't want to freak him out by calling him her fiancé, at least not yet. Naturally, Sarah would never break Chuck's fingers. He surely would know that. She would kill anybody with her bare hands who would even try to hurt him like that. But he also needed to know just how serious she was. Her face broke into a huge grin as she heard Chuck's nervous cough.

x-x-x-x-x


	10. God's Gift to Women

_This is not an original story. In fact it is one of my first. It was written at the beginning of season 2. The story was inspired by a series of discussions between BrickRoad and me talking through different storyline ideas._

_Warning: There is some adult content in this. Nothing major but please use discretion. I still don't own Chuck._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference. That's probably more important than ever now that the series has ended. If you want to keep the Chuck fandom alive and continue to read about these characters, you really need to think about rewarding the people whose hard work make that possible._

**God's Gift to Women**

x-x-x-x-x

When Bryce came back up the stairs after meeting with Chuck, Becky was waiting for him. Bryce walked up to her and put on his most boyish smile. "Well, Miss Ivan," he said as he stuck out his hand. "Congratulations. You are about to become a very wealthy lady. Could I please call you Becky?"

"Of course," said Becky with a dazzling smile of her own as she took Bryce's hand. "I take it that your tests went well."

"It went incredibly well," said Bryce as he continued to hold Becky's hand. "Let me apologize for my rude behavior earlier. We've been disappointed so many times in the past when we thought we were going to get the intersect."

"I understand," Becky said as she continued her smile and made no effort to withdraw her hand.

"You're quite an amazing woman, Becky," Bryce said softly as he gently grabbed Becky's hand in both of his. "Smart, aggressive, wealthy, and incredibly beautiful. That's quite a package."

"Thank you," said Becky. A slight blush came to her face but she continued to look Bryce in the eye.

"Have you ever considered joining Fulcrum?" Bryce asked. "It's not often we come across such an amazing talent."

"Thanks," said Becky. "I'm thinking that I might retire now that I'm rich. But the offer is very flattering."

"I'd love to get to know you a little better," Bryce said with a grin. "About being rich; do you think that maybe we could go get a drink somewhere and talk about our bid? I want to make sure that you're aware of just how much we want this merchandise."

"Are you sure that you want to talk about money?" Becky said with a sly smile. "Or something else?"

"Why don't we start with money?" Bryce said softly as he leaned in to speak directly into Becky's ear. "Then maybe we'll see what happens. I have to warn you. I'm not going to be held accountable for my actions."

They clearly were both overtly flirting with each other. So maybe it was time to ratchet it up a notch. "What actions specifically do you have in mind?" Becky said as the smile turned into a silly grin.

"It depends on what you mean by specifically," Bryce said with a definite twinkle in his eye. "How about you drive me back to my car? I'll put the hood on my head and think of some more specifics on the way. I'm sure you'll be impressed."

"You're pretty confident." said Becky with a laugh. "Aren't you?"

"Life is too short, Becky," Bryce said softly. "Especially in our line of work. I see something that I want. I've learned that when that happens, I go for it. Don't you agree?"

Becky looked at Bryce for a long moment trying to make up her mind. Bryce kept his eyes fixed on hers. His expression didn't change from the boyish smile. Becky was obviously weighing the options in her mind. This probably wasn't the best time to be running off to screw some stranger, especially a Fulcrum Agent. Then again, he was the sexiest man she had ever seen, and he clearly was willing to use it. Bryce could almost see the wheels turning in her eyes. Finally desire had won out.

"Fine," Becky finally said with sigh. "Give me a minute to let the guys know."

Becky walked over to where Jimmy was sitting in the living room. He and most of the other men were watching Sports Center. "I'm going to take him back," she said. "He wants to talk about his bid."

"He doesn't want to talk," Jimmy said sarcastically without averting his gaze from the television. "Everybody in the room knows what he wants. There will be plenty of time to get laid after we're rich."

"Come on, Jimmy," Becky said with the hint of distain in her voice. "You're not going to start getting jealous on me now, are you?"

"You know better than that," Jimmy said while turning his head slightly to look at Becky for the first time. "Go have your fun. Just don't lose focus. There's too much at stake here."

"Make sure that nothing happens to our prize," Becky said as she turned to walk away. "I should be back in a couple of hours."

"You might want to consider trying to play just a little hard to get once in a while," Jimmy said as he turned back towards the TV. "I've heard that some men consider that a turn on."

"Not any of the ones I've met," Becky said over her shoulder as she continued walking. "Oh, by the way, I promised our buddy a steak. He really came through for us."

x-x-x-x-x

After letting the seriousness of the situation sink in, Sarah decided that she needed to calm Chuck down a little. "Don't worry about a thing," she said soothingly. "As soon as Bryce gets back, we're going to come in and get you. Bryce scouted the house so he should be able to prepare us. Hopefully they won't be prepared for an attack. If we can surprise them it might be easy."

Chuck coughed to let her know that he understood.

"I'm assuming that you found a way to use your spare cell battery," Sarah said softly. "That was really quick thinking. I'm really proud of you, Chuck. Aren't you happy now that I make you carry an extra battery?"

Chuck coughed again.

"We're really going to have to look at that cough," Sarah said with the smile evident in her voice. "Once we get you out of there I promise to rub some warm oil on your chest. Maybe I'll even have you return the favor. Would you like that?"

Sarah really couldn't tell if Chuck's response was a cough. It sounded more like a whimper.

"Okay, Chuck," said Sarah with a laugh. "I'm sorry that I teased you. I want you to sit back and try and get some rest. It will be another hour or so before we come in. I know that you're scared and uncomfortable but it's important that you try to relax and be ready for anything. We're going to need you alert when this goes down."

Then with her voice growing more serious, Sarah continued. "I'm going to call Ellie right now and let her know that you won't be home tonight. I'm going to stay off until just before we come in to let you rest but I'm listening. If you need to hear my voice, just cough. I'm going to see you very shortly. And lord help the poor bastard that gets in my way. Until then, please remember how very much I love you. I can't wait until I can say that to your face."

With that Sarah turned off her mike and picked up her cell phone.

"Hi, Ellie, I'm so sorry for calling this late."

"Yes, everything's fine. I just wanted to let you know not to expect Chuck home tonight."

"We're working on it. We're not quite there yet but I think it will work out tonight."

"He's right here. I would let you talk to him but he's tied up at the moment."

"Thanks, Ellie. I hope so too. I'll call you tomorrow and tell you how it worked out. Hopefully I'll have some good news."

"I love you too, Ellie."

x-x-x-x-x

Becky and Bryce walked together into the garage. Becky led Bryce to the passenger side of the van and opened the side door.

"Perhaps it would be better if you got in the back," Becky said with a grin as she handed Bryce the hood. "After all, it would look odd for people seeing someone riding in a van with a black hood on their head."

"Okay," Bryce said with his trademark smile. "But first let's have a preview of coming attractions."

With that Bryce stepped up to Becky and kissed her. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her close. While Becky did nothing to try and stop him, she didn't really participate at first either. After a moment, Becky put her hand behind Bryce's head to pull him tighter. After another moment she opened her mouth to give Bryce free reign. The kiss lasted a long moment with Becky being the most aggressive at the end. Finally Bryce broke the kiss by gently pulling Becky's lower lip with his until they separated.

"Wow," said Becky breathlessly. "If that was the preview, I can't wait to see the movie. Where are we going?"

"First," Bryce said slyly as he sat in the van and put the hood on his head. "Take me back to my car. I need to check in with my superiors to let them know that you really have the intersect. They are going to need a few hours to get that amount of money together. After that, I'm all yours."

Bryce wasn't sure if Becky would recognize Sarah's Porsche or not. But it didn't make sense to take any chances so he had Becky park out of sight of the car. "Give me ten minutes," he said calmly. "I'll be right back."

As soon as Bryce was back in the van, he turned to Becky and smiled.

"Everything's all set," Bryce said with a huge grin. "You're about to become one of the richest people in the whole world. My superiors want to make sure that you're kept happy. My orders are to make sure that happens. They're the best orders I've ever been issued. How do you want to celebrate?"

"I'm not sure yet," Becky said. Of course that was a lie. She knew exactly how she wanted to celebrate. "But first I'd like to go in the back of the van and get another preview. Would that be okay?"

"Orders," Bryce replied with a smile. "You have to follow them, right? After you."

As they sat on the rear bench seat Becky was the one who initiated the intimate contact. She threw both arms around Bryce's neck and urgently pressed her lips to his. The kiss, or more appropriately, intense necking session lasted for several minutes. Finally Bryce broke the contact.

"Let's slow down for a minute," he whispered in her ear. "A couple more minutes of that and the movie is going to break out right her in the van."

But Becky clearly wasn't prepared to wait any longer. "I've always wanted to see a movie in the van," she said as she moved down to unbuckle Bryce's belt. "I don't think I ever got your first name."

When Becky looked back up at Bryce, all she could see was the barrel of Bryce's Glock pointing at her. She heard the unmistakable sound of a round being racked into the firing chamber. "I'm sorry," he said sarcastically. "How incredibly rude of me. My name is Bryce. Bryce Larkin."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah and Casey had nothing to do but wait. Being a veteran of scores of stakeouts, they knew that drill very well. Relax and be ready when the action came. Unfortunately they were both having some difficulty this time. It was Chuck in there, after all. Sarah was especially antsy.

Bryce wasn't exactly Sarah's favorite person at the moment. Although getting to talk Chuck had calmed her down considerably. And Bryce had just risked his life on his behalf. But the frustration was beginning to build again. "Where in the hell is he?" she sighed as she looked at her watch for the twentieth time in the past ten minutes. "He needs to get back here to brief us. This situation won't stay calm forever."

Casey knew her well enough to know that he was wasting his breath, but he tried to calm her anyway. "Relax, Walker," he said. "He hasn't been gone for an hour yet. Bryce knows what he's doing. I just got off the phone with Beckman. I think that she has the whole San Diego office en route."

Just then Sarah's phone rang. She saw that it was Bryce. "Where in the hell are you?" she answered anxiously.

"I'm at the convenience store at the corner," Bryce replied calmly. "You need to meet me here."

Sarah saw no reason to pretend to be happy with him. "We're not leaving," she said sharply. "Are you crazy? What could you possibly be thinking? We have the house in sight. What if they make a move and we miss it? Now get your ass back here so we can make our move."

"Damn it, Sarah," Bryce said in a frustrated tone. "Let me talk to Casey."

That was fine with Sarah. She was done talking to him for a while anyway. "Talk some sense into him," she said as she tossed the phone to Casey.

Casey listened to the phone for about twenty seconds. Sarah noticed his eyes widen as he listened to whatever Bryce had to say. Then he started up the car. "Don't worry," he said as his look silenced Sarah's objection. "We'll be right back."

When they pulled into the parking lot Bryce was standing there waiting for them. Sarah got out of the car and went to him. "Where is my car, Bryce?" she asked.

Bryce ignored her question. And the smile he had on his face was fairly annoying. "Tell me Sarah," he said. "About being in love with Chuck, do you see yourself marrying him anytime soon?"

Sarah knew that she was going to have to have this conversation with him. Bryce didn't love her, never really had. It was just that he didn't like to lose. But now certainly wasn't the time to be gentle with him. "Bryce," she said with a huge sigh. "Now is not the time for this. Look, I know you're jealous. I'm sorry. I just can't deal with that right now. I'm too worried about Chuck."

"I'm not jealous," Bryce insisted. "Not really. I always hoped that we could get back to what we had someday. But I also always suspected that it wasn't going to happen. I'd like to be happy for you two. Hopefully I can get there soon. The honest truth is that I don't know of any two people who I'd root for more. I'm just curious what your long term plans are."

Sarah was frankly surprised by Bryce's tone. She knew him well enough to know that he wasn't as happy about the current situation as he was claiming. But at least it was on the table. "Okay," she said. "I guess a lot of that is up to Chuck. We have never discussed it. But I'd clearly like that. I'm going to try my best to talk him into it. Why do you ask?"

"Because," Bryce said with a huge grin as he opened the side door of the van. "In that case I have an engagement present for you."

Sarah could see a person sitting in the back seat of the van. Their hands were cuffed behind their back. When Bryce pulled off the hood Sarah's mood instantly went from confusion to joy as she recognized what was happening.

"Bryce," Sarah said. "This is the best present I've ever gotten. I would hug you except I don't want it getting back to Chuck."

Bryce just smiled at her.

"Oh, the hell with it," Sarah said with a sigh as she threw her arms around him. "Chuck will understand."

"I hope you know," Bryce said as he cautiously put his arms around Sarah. "What you both mean to me. If I have to see you with another man, Chuck is the one I'd pick."

Sarah realized that he was actually trying. This was a hard day for him. Bryce never liked to lose. So maybe she could cut him a little slack. "I know," she said as she pulled out of the embrace. "I don't regret what we had. I hope that we can remain friends. It's just that Chuck is very sensitive towards the thought of you and me. I can understand that. So you need to understand that I'm going to be very sensitive in kind to not ever give him any reason to doubt my total devotion to him. He's been hurt enough already. If I appear harsh with you, that's why." Then she turned back towards the van.

"Well hello, Agent Ivan," Sarah said. "I was so hoping to run into you today."

x-x-x-x-x


	11. Love Hurts

_This is not an original story. In fact it is one of my first. It was written at the beginning of season 2. The story was inspired by a series of discussions between BrickRoad and me talking through different storyline ideas._

_Warning: There is some adult content in this. Nothing major but please use discretion. I still don't own Chuck._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference. That's probably more important than ever now that the series has ended. If you want to keep the Chuck fandom alive and continue to read about these characters, you really need to think about rewarding the people whose hard work make that possible._

_Okay Shippers, we're really close to the Charah goodness. I know that I've been saying that for a while now. But we're really, really close. Just not quite yet, I'm afraid. Thanks to Natty for the excellent beta. And thanks to BrickRoad for being the sounding board. You can thank her for the favorable treatment of Bryce (I think she likes him, lol.)_

**Love Hurts**

x-x-x-x-x

Even though Bryce had worked with Sarah for years and had been with her in many tense situations, he had never seen the look on her face that was there when she looked at Becky. The fire in her eyes actually made him take a step back.

Sarah stepped up to her as she sat in the van. Becky, being the trained agent that she was, should have recognized that Sarah was going for her throat and been able to defend herself. But she was still in shock from being seduced and captured so easily. So by the time she recognized what Sarah was doing it was too late to get her chin down to protect herself. Once Sarah had her left forearm across Becky's throat the battle was over. With Becky's arms and legs secured, she had no way to escape from her grasp. Sarah clasped her left hand with her right and used it as leverage to lean into Becky, totally cutting off her air supply. The wild look in her eyes was terrifying.

"I can forgive your pathetic attempts to seduce Chuck," Sarah said in a guttural growl as she planted her feet and pushed against her throat harder. "After all, you were just following orders."

"I could forgive the shot you took on the video," Sarah said as she pressed even harder. "It was stupid and cruel, but it didn't really hurt anybody."

At that point Bryce stepped in to pull Sarah away. He had only taken a single step when he felt Casey's hand on his shoulder.

"Give her a minute," Casey said softly as the hint of a smile came across his face.

"I could even eventually forgive your friend hitting Chuck," Sarah continued. "Even though, what kind of man hits a defenseless man?"

"What I can't forgive," said Sarah. "Is that you betrayed your country for money. It doesn't get much worse than that for me. But even that doesn't mean you have to die."

Becky was beginning to feel herself start to black out. Her eyes darted around in a panic. At this point, Casey stepped up. "Sarah," he said calmly. "She's no use to us if you kill her now."

"What I'll never forgive," Sarah said as she reluctantly released Becky from her grip. "Is you messing with the love of my life. That is a capital offense."

Becky sat in the van trying to grasp for air. Sarah gave her a minute to recover because she knew that Becky wouldn't be able to concentrate on what she was saying anyway.

"Let me be perfectly clear." Sarah said slowly through gritted teeth. "If anything happens to Chuck, if he gets so much as a bloody nose out of this, I'm going to come back here and slowly tear you apart one inch at a time. You have one chance to survive this night. That is to help us to get Chuck out of there safely. Do we understand each other?"

Becky nodded hesitantly.

"Do we understand each other?" Sarah repeated more forcefully as she put her face in Becky's.

"Yes," Becky whispered as a tear ran down her left cheek. "We do."

"Good," Sarah said sarcastically as she turned to Casey. "Un-cuff her."

Casey did a double take. "Why?" he asked.

"There is a little unfinished business between us," Sarah said. "So what do you say, Ex-Agent Ivan? Care to defend your class's honor against an old, burnt out, has-been, who's been ridden hard and put away wet one too many times?"

Becky didn't answer. But the gleam in her eyes said that she would be more than willing to take a couple of swings in Sarah's general direction.

"Sarah," Casey protested as he moved to free Becky. "We really don't have time for this."

"Don't worry," Sarah said as she took off her shirt and handed it to him, leaving her in a blue sports bra. "This isn't going to take very long. We can't move until our force is in position anyway."

The fight started off slowly. Sarah's fighting style was always to counterpunch when she could and use her quickness against her opponent. And Becky's rage was making that strategy easy as she tried to land one roundhouse haymaker after another. But Sarah was far too quick for her. She allowed the punches to come tantalizingly close but none ever really landed. Sarah's counter-punches were soft, slaps really, designed more to infuriate her rather than do any damage.

Finally Sarah felt that she had made her point. There was simply no way for Becky Ivan to land a solid punch against her. So her next attempt was met with Sarah's left foot out of nowhere viciously meeting her jaw. It landed with a sickening crack. Becky was off balance and in an awkward position from throwing her own punch, not that it really made any difference. Nobody was going to stay standing after taking that blow anyway.

Becky was lying there on the ground for a while, mindlessly struggling to get to her feet, clearly with absolutely no idea where she was. Once she was standing, Sarah's right foot landed directly under her rib cage. The air leaving her lungs could be clearly heard. Becky collapsed again, this time for good. Sarah went to stand over her in the victorious dominant position, daring Becky to try to get to her feet. But she had clearly had enough for one day. She just sat on the ground trying to catch her breath, still dazed, and felt her jaw.

Sarah reached out her hand for Casey to give her back her shirt. "Your Academy class must have been a bunch of pussies," she said as she calmly buttoned it. "Whatever is becoming of our youth? No wonder you concentrate so much on seduction."

"I sure hope you're better at screwing. That's one lesson I won't be teaching you."

x-x-x-x-x

General Beckman was talking on the phone to the director of the San Diego FBI office. His name was Greg Holden. Beckman knew Greg quite well since he had until recently been assigned to the NSA in Washington. In fact, it was Beckman who had recommended him for the promotion and opportunity in San Diego.

Certainly, they were not friends. But they did have the kind of relationship that allowed them to speak freely to each other without worrying too much about military protocol. It was the sort of privilege that Beckman only allowed a small set of individuals. Sarah's latest rant yesterday probably did a lot to get her close to that status but not quite there. Beckman was making arrangements for the FBI to provide support for Sarah's rescue mission.

"Greg," Beckman said firmly. "The details are classified, but I can't express how important it is to national security that this hostage be secured."

Greg instantly knew this was more serious than a simple hostage situation. She didn't have to say it. It was in the tone of her voice. "Don't worry," he replied smartly. "I'll get every man I have over there. Who is in charge from your side?"

"That would be CIA Agent Sarah Walker," Beckman said. "I'm sure you've heard of her."

"Of course," Greg said with the surprise evident in his voice. "Wow, that's impressive. This guy must really be important."

"More than you know," Beckman said softly. "There is one more thing that you should be aware of. Agent Walker is hopelessly compromised. She hopes to marry the hostage in the near future. I had to talk her out of resigning to be with him just yesterday."

"I understand, Diane," Greg said just as softly. "You want me to ignore her orders and neutralize the hostage, whatever the means."

"No, Greg," Beckman said. "Before yesterday, you would have been exactly right. But Walker has convinced me that being in love makes her more effective in protecting her assignment. She deserves a chance to get him out alive. Let's give her that chance."

"Wow," Greg said with a smile. "As I remember Sarah Walker, this guy is one lucky bastard. It'd be a tragedy to let him get killed now."

x-x-x-x-x

Once Casey had Becky back in the van and semi conscious again, he indicated to Sarah and Bryce that they should get in the front seats of the van. Bryce went and got into the driver's side and Sarah quickly hopped into the passenger side. Casey stepped into the side door and closed it behind him. He then sat in the other seat next to Becky.

"Okay, Becky," Casey said softly. "What can you tell us that will help?"

Becky was clearly still trying to shake the cobwebs out. "Fuck you," she said sullenly after pausing for a long moment. "Why should I help you? I'm dead either way."

"Look around," Casey answered her with a short laugh. "Your plan has failed. There's no way you are going to sell the intersect. Fifty agents are on their way as we speak to surround that house and go in and get him. If Chuck survives, I promise that I'll keep Sarah away from you."

At that Sarah shot Casey a dirty look. "Don't make promises that you can't keep," she said.

Casey was clearly relishing the good cop role. "That's fair," he said to Sarah. "If Chuck makes it, so can she." Then he turned back to Becky. "But I promise you," he continued. "If something happens to Chuck, I'm going to enjoy watching her tear you apart piece by piece. I'll stand next to her and hand her the pliers when she needs them.

At that Becky visibly gulped.

"Look at her," Casey said to Becky with a grim smile as he indicated Sarah with a nod of his head. "Tell me that she won't do it. You know that she will. And she'll make it as slow and agonizing as the training you ladies have taken will allow."

Becky sighed as she saw the look of pure hatred on Sarah's face. Sarah was so angry that she was having a hard time controlling her hands from shaking.

"Fine," Becky said with a sigh after pausing for a moment. "There is something that you need to know if you're going to go in there. The basement is wired. There is a percussion bomb in the corner. It can be remotely detonated. If they suspect a rescue attempt the first thing that every man in there is going to do is to detonate the bomb. It will certainly kill Chuck and anybody else down there when it goes off."

"Where is it?" Casey asked continuing the good cop character. "And how is it detonated?"

"It's located in the corner of the basement opposite of the stairwell." Becky said. "It is set to detonate by a cell phone signal. Every man has the number on his speed dial."

"And I assume you've thought about cell jamming?" Casey asked.

Becky was clearly genuinely offended that he would imply that she would be so sloppy. "Of course," she replied with a sideways glance. "Any attempt to jam cell signals will detonate the device."

Just then they heard a pounding on the outside of the van. Sarah opened her door and stepped out. Greg walked up to her.

"Agent Walker," said Greg. "I'm Greg Holden. I'm sure you don't remember me. General Beckman tells me that you're in charge."

"Greg," Sarah said with a smile. "Of course I remember you. Weren't you based in Washington? It's been a long time."

"A long time," Greg agreed. "I've only been here about six months."

"Maybe we'll get a few minutes later to catch up," Sarah said briskly as she opened the side door of the van. "Right now we have a crisis. I'd like you to meet my partner, John Casey."

"Casey," Greg said as he broke out into a huge grin. "No kidding. How the hell have you been?"

"And this," Sarah said as she nodded her head towards Becky. "Is our main perp."

"Yeah," Greg said. "I figured the way she was cuffed and bound that she wasn't a hitchhiker that you picked up."

"Her name is Becky Ivan and she is ex CIA." Sarah said flatly. "She has given us some intelligence about the location. Could you please have some of your men secure her? I need to have her kept on scene where I can get my hands on her. If the information that she has provided is bullshit, I'll definitely be talking to her again."

"Sure," Greg said as he nodded to two men who untied Becky's legs and led her away.

"And, Greg," Sarah turned to Becky and put her face a couple of inches from hers. "It would be good if these men had short memories. It's very possible that they've never seen this woman before in their lives."

"I understand," Greg said with a sigh.

At that Bryce opened the driver door to the van and got out.

"And who might you be?' Greg asked softly.

"Apparently nobody," Bryce growled as he slammed the van door and walked away.

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck was trying his best to follow Sarah's instructions and get some rest. He hoped that she was only kidding about breaking his fingers. Although he knew that she would get extreme to protect him. And he certainly wasn't going to give her any reason anyway. But sleep? There was no way. It just wouldn't come.

He was far too – well, how would you describe it? Afraid? Sure he was afraid. Becky and her friends would kill him in a second if they had to. He had no question about that. And even that would be better than being sold to Fulcrum. Uncomfortable? Absolutely, he had been sitting in the same position for several hours with only a couple of breaks. But overpowering all of those emotions was pure, pure joy.

"She loves me," he said to himself. "I really am the luckiest guy in the world."

Even though he was alone and the room was dark, Chuck honestly felt embarrassed by the silly grin that he knew was plastered all over his face. She was out there, probably just a couple of doors down the street. And all he had to do was cough and she would talk to him. Chuck had seen enough missions to picture what was happening. Sarah and Casey were checking their weapons. They were sitting in a darkened car making sure that all of their clips were loaded with rounds. They both would have their game faces on at this point. Sarah was probably hiding knives all over her body. It always amazed him the different places where she could pull out a knife. One thing that he knew for sure. Chuck sat in the dark and made a solemn promise to himself. He was going to use his newly created boyfriend status to discover every single hiding place.

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah looked in disgust at Bryce walking away. This was just what she didn't have the time to deal with. She was going to put a stop to this foolishness right now. "Casey," she said sharply. "Will you please brief Greg and his men on the situation? I'll be right back."

"Bryce," Sarah yelled as she ran after him.

Bryce stopped walking but didn't turn.

There was one good thing about her past relationship with Bryce, she knew that she didn't have to mince words. They had shared more than one eyeball-to-eyeball moment over the years, often screaming at each other. "What in the hell is your problem?" she asked sharply as she let her anger boil to the surface. "Bryce, I'm sorry. I understand that you're jealous. But I can't deal with that right now. We have to save Chuck. After he's safe, I promise that we'll talk for a minute."

"I'm not jealous of Chuck," Bryce said with a sad smile. "I thought that I had made that clear already. Not anymore. I've known for a long time that you two would eventually get together. I'm not sure I can pretend to be happy about it. But that's not what is bothering me."

"Okay, Bryce," said Sarah with a sigh. "Then you're going to have to tell me. I don't have the time or the patience to guess right now."

"I guess that maybe I am jealous," Bryce said softly while looking at the ground.

"I knew it," Sarah said. "Bryce, come on. This isn't the time for this."

"I am not jealous of Chuck," Bryce insisted firmly. "Not really. I swear. If anything, I'm jealous of Casey."

"Casey," Sarah asked in a stunned voice. "Why on earth would you be jealous of Casey?"

"I don't know," Bryce said with a sigh. "You and me, we used to be great together. On the job, I mean. We just clicked. Now, it's like I'm invisible. Now I see you turn to him when you used to turn to me."

"What?" asked Sarah in amazement. "Bryce, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Okay, Sarah," said Bryce. "Let me ask you a question. What do you know about the inside of that house? The answer is not a damn thing. Yet you're planning an assault without asking the one person on your team who has been inside. Do you want to get Chuck out of there or not?"

Sarah knew that she had to reach out to him a little. Too much had changed. He was feeling left out. "Of course I do," she said softly. "Do you really think I wasn't going to ask you to brief the team about the house? Please come back and help us plan. I need your help."

With a sigh Bryce returned and quickly huddled with Sarah, Casey, and Greg to share what he had learned about the layout of the house. Casey suggested that they might be able to use the van and enter through the garage without arousing any suspicion. Sarah said that she would go down stairs and cut Chuck loose and get him back up the stairs as quickly as possible.

"Maybe it would be better if I went downstairs," Casey said softly.

Sarah didn't respond with words but the fire in her eyes gave no doubts as to what she was thinking. It was that fire that caused Casey to quickly concede. While Sarah was downstairs with Chuck, Bryce and Casey would cover the hallway. Hopefully they would be able to get Chuck up the stairs and out of the house before being discovered. At that point Greg's team, who was stationed at the three doors, would come in with guns blazing. Hopefully the overwhelming force would make any battle short and sweet. Bryce was going to be in constant contact with Greg. If they were discovered, Greg's team would move in immediately. They had special instructions to shoot anyone holding a cell phone and ask questions later.

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck was really growing antsy waiting. It seemed like hours since the last time he had talked to Sarah but, in reality, it had only been about twenty minutes. Suddenly he heard Sarah's voice in his ear.

"Okay, Chuck," she said. "We're ready. Are you ready?"

Chuck's cough let her know that he was listening.

"I'm going to come down and cut you loose," Sarah said calmly. "It's important that we get out of there as quickly as possible. There won't be any time for us to have any emotion. We'll need to save the romantic stuff until we're both safe. I need you to run as fast as you can to the stairs and up them. Do you understand me?"

Chuck quickly coughed.

"But don't worry," Sarah said with a smile. "I'll make you a deal. The faster you run up those stairs, the sooner we'll be necking in the car on the way home. I intend to make up for some lost opportunities in Casey's back seat. And it's a two hour drive. You know that, right?"

Chuck coughed with a smile.

x-x-x-x-x

Bryce, Sarah, and Casey pulled the van into the garage. They used the automatic door opener to gain access just like Becky would have on her way back. As planned, they left the garage door up to give easy access to Greg's team.

"Good luck," whispered Casey as the three agents quickly shared a fist bump and quietly exited the van.

Casey, Bryce and Sarah quietly entered the house through the garage door. Sarah quickly ran down the stairs. When she saw Chuck she immediately ran over to him and started cutting him loose.

Bryce and Casey covered the hallway with guns drawn. They were trying to stay low in the darkened room hoping to blend in. Suddenly one of the men came into the kitchen to get a drink and discovered them. His yell alerted the rest of the house of the attack. That's when all hell broke loose. Bryce ordered Greg's men into the house. They quickly burst into all three doors. Shots were being fired seemingly in all directions as Greg's team efficiently crushed the resistance. Five of the men, including Jimmy, were quickly killed. The rest, seeing they were grossly outmanned, quickly surrendered. Unfortunately, in the confusion, there was one man in the bathroom that hadn't been accounted for. Greg's team was in the process of cuffing the men that had given up. Casey was standing at the top of the stairs waiting anxiously for Sarah to come up with Chuck. He was starting to believe that the worst was over.

"Well," Casey said to Bryce with a smile. "That wasn't so hard, was it?"

Casey saw the return smile from Bryce. He was just about to go down stairs to help Sarah with Chuck when he was knocked down by the blast coming from the basement.

x-x-x-x-x


	12. The Hospital

_This is not an original story. In fact it is one of my first. It was written at the beginning of season 2. The story was inspired by a series of discussions between BrickRoad and me talking through different storyline ideas._

_Warning: There is some adult content in this. Nothing major but please use discretion. I still don't own Chuck._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference. That's probably more important than ever now that the series has ended. If you want to keep the Chuck fandom alive and continue to read about these characters, you really need to think about rewarding the people whose hard work make that possible._

**The Hospital**

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as Casey picked himself off the floor and cleared his head from the shock he hurried down the stairs. Bryce was right behind him. At first, it was a little hard to see because of the dust in the air. But after a few steps he could make out Chuck at the bottom of the steps. He was standing over Sarah who was obviously badly hurt. Chuck was focused so hard on Sarah's condition that he didn't recognize Casey's arrival. As soon as Casey put his hand on Chuck's shoulder he noticeably jumped. Once he recognized that it was Casey he turned to him.

"Sarah's hurt," Chuck screamed, clearly in a panic.

Casey understood that getting Chuck out of there was his top priority. It's what Sarah would have wanted. But he also knew how hard of a sell talking him into leaving her was going to be. "We need to get you out of here," he said firmly. "This is a dangerous place."

True to form, Chuck resisted. "I'm not leaving Sarah," he screamed.

"Chuck," Casey said raising his voice. "You need to go with Bryce right now. No questions."

"I can't leave her," Chuck said but this time it was more of a whimper.

Casey tried to appeal to logic. "I should be helping Sarah right now," he said firmly. "But instead, I'm standing here talking to you. Go with Bryce. I'll come right to you when I know something about her."

"Do you promise?" Chuck said softly as tears started to flow.

"I promise," Casey said in a frustrated tone. "Now just go."

As Chuck allowed Bryce to lead him away, Casey knelt and checked for Sarah's pulse. He was relieved to find that it was strong and rapid. She looked to have hit her head against the wall. She had a small gash on her upper forehead, just below the hairline. Casey was interrupted from any further examination by the medics. Since there were several teams that were standing by, Bryce must have sent one down.

"What do we have?" asked one of the medics.

"Bomb blast victim," Casey said firmly. "It looks like the blast caused her to impact the wall."

Casey stepped out of the way to let the medics work. With amazing speed they called out Sarah's vitals. They quickly started an IV and had her loaded on a stretcher. Casey followed them as they carried Sarah's stretcher up the stairs.

"How is she?" Casey asked.

"Too soon to tell," one of the medics said breathlessly, clearly trying to still recover from carrying Sarah's stretcher up the stairs. "Her vitals are good. That's a good sign."

"Where is she going?" Casey asked as they were loading Sarah into the ambulance.

"South General," the medic replied as he closed the door. "It's the closest trauma hospital."

With that he jumped in the ambulance and they were gone with sirens blaring.

x-x-x-x-x

Bryce took Chuck to the large FBI van that was parked about a hundred yards away from the house. They were using the van as a command center. They had only been in the van long enough to grab a cup of coffee and sit down when Casey came bursting in.

"How's Sarah?" Chuck asked with the concern obvious in his voice.

"She's alive," Casey said with a sigh. "The medic said her vitals were good but she was still unconscious when they took her away. She is in route to the hospital. Let me tie up a few loose ends here and we'll head over there."

Greg was in the van directing the cleanup after the attack. He noticed Casey and walked up to him.

"Chuck," Casey said. "Let me introduce you to a good friend of mine. This is Greg Holden. Greg, this is Chuck Bartowski. He was the hostage."

"Greg was a fair field agent," Casey said with a smile. "He was a little timid sometimes, but decent. Then he happens to get shot one single time and comes running out here and lets them bolt a desk to his ass. Now he is in charge of the San Diego FBI office."

"I'm glad to meet you, sir," Chuck said as her shook Greg's hand. "I appreciate your help in rescuing me."

"The pleasure is all mine," Greg said warmly. "Don't let Casey give you the wrong impression. He is a freaking maniac. And I was on crutches for six weeks. It hurt like hell. It's an honor to meet the man who could take Sarah Walker off the market. That is very impressive. You wouldn't believe all the men that have taken their shot. Have you set a date?"

"Date?" Chuck asked in a confused tone. "Date for what?"

"Agent Walker was injured in the attack," Casey said in response to Greg's puzzled look. "She is in route to South General."

"I'm sorry," Greg said. "How insensitive of me. I feel terrible. I hope she is going to be okay."

"It's okay," Chuck said sadly as he tried to manage a smile. "You had no way of knowing. Her vitals are good. She's pretty tough. Let's hope she's okay."

"She's pretty tough," Greg agreed. "That's something of an understatement. But I feel terrible anyway. Let me get someone to take you over there."

"Thanks, Greg," Casey said. "That would be great. But first, we have some business to take care of. Could you point me to where you are holding Becky Ivan?"

x-x-x-x-x

Greg took Casey outside and pointed him to another van that was parked down the street.

"Come on," Casey said as he turned towards Chuck.

"Where are we going?" Bryce said as they walked together towards the van.

When Casey didn't answer, Bryce grabbed his arm. "Damn it, Casey," he said angrily. "We're all worried about Sarah. But you killing her isn't going to help Sarah."

"I'm not going to kill her," Casey insisted as he continued walking.

"Then what are we doing?" Bryce asked as they reached the van.

"I'm going to let Chuck kill her," Casey replied as he opened the door. "He deserves that chance."

There were two guards in the van along with Becky. Casey turned to them. "Men," he said firmly as he held up his ID. "We need to interrogate this prisoner. Would you please wait outside?"

"Yes, sir," one of the men said and they quickly left.

Casey took out his gun, clicked off the safety, racked a round into the firing chamber, and handed the weapon to Chuck. "Okay, Chuck," he said. "Here's the deal. Sarah told Becky that if anything happened to you, she would kill her. I figure that after what you've just been through, you deserve that same chance."

Chuck couldn't take his eyes off the huge gun that was in his hands. "You think that I should kill her?" he asked with the fear evident in his voice.

"I'm not saying that," Casey said softly. "I'm saying that you've earned the right. If you do, no one will blame you. If you don't, that's your decision, too. The gun is all set. All you have to do is point it between her eyes and pull the trigger. Bryce and I will wait outside."

"What do you think I should do?" Chuck asked Bryce as he continued to look at Casey's gun in his hand.

"That's totally up to you," Bryce replied with a soft smile. "Casey's right. She has it coming. No one would blame you."

"Would you do it?" Chuck asked. "If you were me, would you pull the trigger?"

Bryce smiled at his friend. "Does it matter?" he replied as he looked Chuck in the eye. "The only thing that really matters is what you want to do. I have to say that it's definitely the spy thing to do. It's what settles for justice in our world."

As Casey and Bryce left the room, Chuck felt the rage build inside of him. Becky was the reason Sarah was hurt, or even worse. Becky had lied to him about how Sarah felt. She had intentionally tried to break him. She was getting ready to sell him to Fulcrum, to who knows what horrors, to torture him to make him cooperate. Chuck knew without a doubt that, if the roles were reversed, Becky would pull the trigger. And that wasn't even the worst part. Try as he might to block it, the thought crept into his consciousness. If Sarah didn't make it he didn't know what he was going to do. "You deserve this, you bitch," he whispered angrily.

But as Chuck raised the gun he took a good look at Becky for the first time. She was obviously in shock from having to identify the bodies of her gang that had been killed in the attack. That's when she must have seen Jimmy's body. Her eyes were glassy and didn't focus. Even though she was securely bound, she was visibly shaking. She wasn't afraid to die. Chuck was sure about that. You didn't become an undercover CIA agent if you were. Chuck realized that she was suffering. She was clearly hoping that he would do it. She simply closed her eyes and calmly waited for the end.

But by some intuition that he couldn't even explain, Chuck knew that Sarah wouldn't want him to do it. Sarah wouldn't be worried about Becky. She would pull the trigger without question. Sarah would be worried about him. If he did this, would he ever be the same person? Would Sarah love the new him? And even more importantly; would he love himself? In an instant, he knew the answer. Chuck slowly lowered the gun to his side. "I forgive you," he whispered, more to himself than to Becky, as he turned and left the van.

x-x-x-x-x

When Chuck went back outside he saw that Casey and Bryce were standing together off to the side. Casey was on his phone. Since Casey was busy, Chuck handed Bryce the gun. He knew that he didn't feel safe holding it. Bryce calmly un-cocked it and clicked the safety back on. With Chuck being able to only hear one side if the conversation, it was hard to follow but he assumed Casey was talking to Beckman.

"Yes, ma'am," Casey said. "I guess that's good news."

"Yes, ma'am, I'll tell him."

"It should take us about two hours. I'll contact you once we arrive."

As soon as Casey ended the call he turned to Chuck and Bryce.

"That was Beckman," Casey said as Bryce handed him his gun. "I have some news about Sarah."

Chuck's heart leapt into his throat waiting for the news.

Casey couldn't hide the fact that he was every bit as concerned about her as they were. "They think that she is going to be okay," he said as a genuine smile broke out on his face. "She started to regain consciousness on the way to the hospital. They gave her some drugs to put her back out. They want her to sleep for a few hours. She has a serious concussion but there is no sign of any permanent damage. They want to make sure that there is no swelling. That's why they're keeping her under."

Chuck found that he had been holding his breath. "I want to go see her," he said as he finally exhaled in relief.

"They're taking her by chopper to Ellie's hospital," Casey replied. "She should be there in about twenty minutes."

"Why would they transfer her?" Chuck asked.

"For a couple of reasons," Casey said. "First, they have the best neurological center there. You may not like Beckman but she is sparing no expense at taking care of her. But also it's where the CIA doctor is based that can protect her cover."

"Okay," said Chuck. "Let's go. I really want to see her."

"Relax," Casey said calmly. "We're going right now. Beckman wants you to call Ellie and establish a cover for Sarah. You're going to tell her that you and Sarah were in a car accident and that Sarah was taken by helicopter to the hospital."

"Fine," Chuck muttered as he turned to Bryce. "I'll need my cell phone battery."

"Beckman wants us to debrief with her at my place for a minute," Casey said. "Bryce, you can drive Sarah's car and we'll meet at my place."

"Don't worry," Casey said with a laugh as he saw the look of despair on Chuck's face. "I promise that I'll get you to the hospital before she wakes up."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck waited until Casey was on the freeway before he dialed Ellie. He still didn't have his watch so he looked at the clock on Casey's dash. It was a little after three in the morning. Chuck hoped that Ellie was on duty so he wouldn't have to wake her up. When she didn't answer, he sent her a page with the emergency code that they had worked out. It wasn't three minutes before Ellie was calling him.

"Chuck," Ellie said breathlessly. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," Chuck quickly reassured her. "Sarah and I were just in an accident."

"My God, Chuck," said Ellie. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," Chuck said shakily. "I'm a little shaken up and my left hand is sort of hurting but I'm okay. The problem is Sarah. She was unconscious when they took her away. They took her in a helicopter to your hospital. She should have gotten there just a few minutes ago. Can you please go check on her and call me back?"

"I'll go right now," Ellie said. "Where are you?"

"I'm on my way," Chuck said as his voice began to crack. "I have to deal with the police and I'm about an hour's drive away. So I probably won't be able to make it there for a couple of hours. But please Ellie, I have to know if she is going to be okay."

"You're sure that you're okay?" Ellie asked with obvious concern. "I'll go check on her and call you back in ten minutes."

It was actually less then five minutes when Chuck's phone rang again.

"Don't worry," Ellie said soothingly. "Sarah is going to be fine. She took a serious blow to the head. It looks like a moderate concussion. She also sprained her left ankle so it looks like she'll be on crutches for a couple of weeks. She would be awake now except whenever someone is unconscious for over ten minutes it's pretty standard procedure to keep them sedated for six hours. That's just to guard against any brain swelling. But don't worry, Chuck. There's zero sign of that. She is going to wake up in a few hours. It's very possible that she'll have a serious headache. But she'll be fine in a few hours. She'll probably be home tonight."

"Thanks goodness," Chuck said with a cry. "Thank you, Ellie."

"When you get to the hospital, come directly to the ER and find me," Ellie instructed firmly. "I want to check you over and make sure you're okay. If your hand is hurting, we'll get it x-rayed. Then I'll take you to see Sarah. Do you understand?"

"Yes mom," Chuck said with a giddy laugh that was caused by his overwhelming relief. "I'll see you in a couple of hours."

"Damn straight," replied Ellie as she ended the call. "I mean it. Come right to the ER and find me. Otherwise prepare to have your ass kicked."

"She is going to be okay," Chuck said to Casey with a sigh of relief.

"That's good," Casey said with a sigh of his own. "We're going to be on the road for a while. Why don't you try and get some sleep. It sounds like you're going to have a long day ahead."

Chuck suddenly realized how exhausted he really was. He hadn't been sleeping well for the past few days anyway, worried about the Sarah situation. And he definitely had been on the edge for the past fifteen hours. "You know what?" he asked. "That doesn't sound half bad." Now that the adrenaline was gone from worrying about Sarah, he suddenly couldn't keep his eyes open. Within a couple of minutes, Chuck was fast asleep.

x-x-x-x-x

Casey woke Chuck up just as they were pulling into the hospital parking lot.

Chuck tried to wake up enough to remember the earlier conversation. _That's odd. I thought we were going to Casey's for a briefing first_.

But he was so anxious to see Sarah that he quickly decided not to complain. Maybe Casey had talked to Beckman while he was sleeping and made other arrangements. Whatever the reason, he couldn't wait to see her. He would have to carefully sneak up to Sarah's room that was for sure. If Ellie caught him, he was in deep trouble. Her instructions left little room for interpretation. After he checked on Sarah, he could go back down to the ER and allow Ellie to examine him.

When Chuck got to Sarah's room, he could see her through the window. She was wide awake and laughing. She looked like she had never been hurt. She also had never looked more beautiful. She had clearly changed out of the black mission outfit and was wearing a dress. In fact, it was his favorite dress. _She must know that_.

Chuck couldn't have been happier. _Great, she's recovered faster than they thought. She looks fantastic_.

Then Chuck spotted Bryce sitting in the chair next to Sarah. It made sense that he had gotten there first. After all, the Porsche was much faster than Casey's Crown Vic. Suddenly, Bryce stood up and began kissing Sarah. She put her arms around his neck and pulled him in passionately. They clearly couldn't see him standing there.

"I love you, Sarah," Bryce said between kisses. "I knew that we'd eventually get back together."

"I love you too, Bryce," Sarah said with a moan as she attacked his lips. It was just like last Thanksgiving in his bedroom. "I've always loved you."

The words felt just like a knife had been stuck in Chuck's chest. He was having a hard time even breathing. "No," he whispered in horror. "No, it can't be. Please…"

Chuck was awakened by Casey shaking him. They were in the parking lot of Casey's apartment. Bryce had just pulled the Porsche next to him and was getting out of the car.

"Son," Casey said as he saw the tears running down Chuck's face. "There is one thing that you have to learn to survive in this nasty business."

"You have to get used to bad dreams."

x-x-x-x-x

_A/N: I added a poll to my profile. Help me decide what to do next._


	13. Agent Bartowski

_This is not an original story. In fact it is one of my first. It was written at the beginning of season 2. The story was inspired by a series of discussions between BrickRoad and me talking through different storyline ideas._

_Warning: There is some adult content in this. Nothing major but please use discretion. I still don't own Chuck._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference. That's probably more important than ever now that the series has ended. If you want to keep the Chuck fandom alive and continue to read about these characters, you really need to think about rewarding the people whose hard work make that possible._

**Agent Bartowski**

x-x-x-x-x

The first thing that Casey did once they entered his apartment was to make a pot of coffee. All three men were starting to drag. It had been a very long day. Even though Chuck was the only one who actually had a nap, he was probably the most tired. After all, he had been through the emotional wringer for the past few days. Since he wasn't likely to be getting much sleep anytime soon, Chuck sipped his coffee gratefully. While the men were finishing their first cup of coffee, Beckman came online.

"Doesn't she ever sleep?" Chuck thought to himself as he marveled at Beckman's crisp appearance. Then he remembered the time difference. It was actually mid-morning in Washington.

"Congratulations on your successful rescue mission," Beckman said as she started the meeting. "Chuck, you really used your head. That saved the day. Please pass along my congratulations to Agent Walker once she is back with us."

"Yes, ma'am," said Casey, speaking for all of them. "Thank you ma'am."

"Fortunately," Beckman continued. "It looks as if Chuck's cover is still intact. We were able to kill or capture everyone who knows about the intersect. So we can resume our cover with Chuck and Sarah being a couple. I assume that you'll be able to sell their reconciliation without arousing suspicions?"

"Yes, ma'am," Casey replied. "I don't think that will be a problem. Chuck and Agent Ivan only went on one date. I really don't think that the breakup fooled anybody anyway."

"Good," said Beckman. "Chuck, I do want to talk about some changes that I have made."

Chuck nodded that he was listening.

"Agents Walker and Casey have convinced me that we're not utilizing your skills properly," Beckman said. "So, effective immediately, you will be sworn in as a special agent. Agent Casey will fill you in on the details as soon as Agent Walker is available. I'm assuming that is acceptable to you?"

The news was almost too good to be true. "Sure," Chuck said with a smile. "I mean, I'm assuming that I'm not going to be asked to disarm a room full of bad guys using only my pocket comb."

"No, Agent Bartowski," Beckman said sharply. "We don't expect your role to change on active missions at all. It's more important than ever that you stay safe. As a matter of fact, the main reason I'm agreeing with this is that Agent Walker has convinced me that you will always agree to do the right thing once you understand the situation. The current situation is that the intersect must be protected at all costs. That was always Casey and Walker's top priority. Now it's going to be yours as well. Am I understood?"

"Yes," Chuck said.

"One thing that will change," Beckman said as she raised her voice. "Is the level of decorum. Now that you are officially part of the team, I expect to be addressed as either General or ma'am. Is that clear?"

That's when Chuck knew that it was actually true. He was going to be an agent. She was talking to him exactly how she would talk to Sarah or Casey. "Yes, ma'am," he said quickly.

"Good," Beckman said as she calmed her voice. "We've also arranged for you to be paid. It would be inconsistent with your cover as a poorly paid computer technician to start having money to spend. So we've arranged for a believable cover. We've created a front computer game company. Some time ago, you submitted an idea for a new video game. It turns out that it has become a huge hit. Your pay will come in the form of royalties from that game. We've already deposited some back pay into your account. Any questions?"

"No, ma'am," replied Chuck. "That is very generous. Thank you ma'am."

"Good," said Beckman as her face softened into a smile. "I'll let you and Agent Walker work out the details of your new extended cover. Tell her that I have worked very hard to keep my head out of my ass. I still expect an invitation."

"Yes, ma'am," Chuck said with the confusion evident in his voice.

"Excellent," said Beckman. "We'll save the formal swearing in ceremony until Agent Walker can attend. Now go and take care of your teammate. You're dismissed."

As soon as the screen went blank, Bryce stepped up to Chuck and extended his hand.

"Congratulations, Agent Bartowski," Bryce said with a grin. "Tell Sarah goodbye for me. Also tell her that I'm happy for her."

Chuck just looked at Bryce's extended hand for a long moment… and threw his arms around him. "Are you leaving?" he asked as he embraced Bryce tightly.

"Yes," said Bryce as he returned Chuck's embrace. "I have to get back. We have an excellent opportunity with Fulcrum thinking they are close to getting the intersect. We can't allow that to pass without taking advantage. I'll try and get back in time for the wedding."

"Thanks for everything," Chuck said softly. "What wedding?"

Bryce just smiled as he broke the embrace. He waived as he quickly went out the door.

"Why is everybody talking about a wedding?" Chuck asked, more to himself than anybody, as soon as Bryce left.

"Bartowski," said Casey with a laugh. "One thing is for sure. For being a genius, you sure are thick. Why don't you go and take a shower and change your clothes. Then I'll take you up to see Walker."

Once Chuck got out of the shower, he signed on to his online checking account. He was very curious to see how much money Beckman had deposited in his account. He hoped that his pay as an agent would allow him to get his own place. When he looked at the balance it took him a few minutes for the amount to sink in. There was a deposit for eighty seven thousand dollars.

"Oh my God," he whispered to himself.

x-x-x-x-x

Casey drove Chuck to the hospital and dropped him off at the ER.

"Aren't you coming in?" Chuck asked as he got out of the car.

"I don't think so," Casey said with a calm smile. "I've seen enough of her in the past few days. You and Sarah need some time alone, preferably when one or more of you aren't unconscious or being held for ransom. Call me tonight and let me know how she's doing. I'm going home and take a nap."

"Hopefully it will be a long time before anything like that happens again," Chuck said with a laugh.

Suddenly Casey's smile turned much more serious. "Let's hope so. But you never know in this business," he said softly as he drove away.

The instant Chuck entered the ER he asked for Ellie. Joy, the receptionist on duty, recognized Chuck before he was even in the waiting room and had already paged her.

"Hi Chuck," Joy said with a warm smile. "Dr. Bartowski asked me to keep a look out for you. She will be out in a minute. I'm so glad your girlfriend is going to be okay."

"So how do you know about my girlfriend?" Chuck asked with a confused smile.

"Chuck," Joy said with a laugh. "I think the whole hospital knows about you and Sarah. It's the most romantic story I've ever heard. It's all anybody wants to talk about. I get teary eyed thinking about it. We all can't wait for the big day."

"Big day?" Chuck asked softly just as Ellie walked up.

Chuck didn't get a chance to continue his conversation since Ellie took him firmly by the arm and pulled him towards an examination room.

"Goodbye, Chuck," he heard Joy call with a laugh. "Don't let us down."

As soon as they were in the examining room, Ellie turned to Chuck. "You said that your hand was hurting," she said firmly. "Show me."

Chuck held up his left hand and pointed to the knuckle of his forefinger.

"I must have banged it on something in the accident," he said. "It's starting to get really sore and I'm having trouble bending it."

"It looks like it's just a bruise," Ellie said as she gently examined Chuck's finger. "But there is no sense in taking any chances. I'll set you up for an x-ray. But first, I'm sure that you want to see Sarah. Come on, I'll take you to her."

"She still has an hour or so before she wakes up," Ellie said as they walked. "Press the call button and let us know when she is awake. It will be a good thing for you to be there when she wakes up. She'll be wondering where she's at and need to be reassured that she will be okay."

"Ellie," Chuck said. "Joy was the forth person today who has hinted to me about a wedding. Am I missing something?"

"Yes, Chuck," Ellie said with an embarrassed smile. "You are. I didn't tell you this before because I didn't want to freak you out. But the reason that I knew so surely that Sarah loved you was that we talked about your wedding."

"What?" Chuck asked in surprise.

"We talked about bridesmaid's dresses," Ellie continued softly as her face turned into a grin. "I want light green and she wants light blue. I assume that either would be fine with you."

"I guess," Chuck said numbly.

"I assume that you kids have worked everything out." Ellie said.

"We were getting there," Chuck replied. "Until the accident sort of ruined the mood. But we never talked about any wedding."

"She's probably giving you the chance to hopefully think of it on your own," Ellie said with a laugh. Then she got much more serious. "Chuck," she said firmly but with a smile. "Sarah loves you more than anybody I've ever known. When she was at the house the other night she was shaking like a leaf. If you feel half as strongly about her as I think that you do, you need to go into that room and not come out until you have closed the sale. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Absolutely," Chuck said with a grin. "You're saying I should close the sale while she is still groggy from the drugs."

"Whatever it takes," Ellie said as she returned Chuck's grin and suddenly embraced him.

"Thanks, sis," Chuck said as he returned Ellie's embrace.

"Ok, sweetie," said Ellie as she walked away. "You're up to bat. Don't strike out."

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah was in that state that was somewhere halfway between being asleep and being awake. All she knew for sure was that her whole body hurt. Her left ankle felt like someone was hitting it with a hammer. Her head felt like someone had already hit it with that same hammer. She tried to remember where she was. Suddenly she remembered that Chuck was in danger.

As her eyes popped open she saw that she was in a hospital bed. Chuck was sitting in the chair next to the bed. He was asleep with his head resting on the bed in what looked like a very uncomfortable position. He had her right hand firmly grasped in his. His soft snoring was so adorable that it brought a smile to Sarah's face in spite of the pain. She slowly took her left hand and touched Chuck's head to make sure that he was real. As she gently stroked his hair, Chuck awakened with a start.

"Are you okay?" Sarah whispered.

That suddenly struck Chuck as funny. "I'm not the one who was been unconscious for the past eight hours," he said with a grin. "How are you feeling?"

Sarah took a moment to consider the question. "I feel like I was just dragged by a car for a mile," she finally said with a groan. "What is our situation?"

"We're in Ellie's hospital," Chuck said as he pushed the nurse call button. "Our cover is that we were in a car accident and you were transported here by helicopter."

"And what about the mission?" Sarah asked.

"We captured all of Becky Ivan's team," Chuck said with a smile. "I think we killed five. We had no casualties or injuries, except for you of course. Beckman is very pleased. She says that we can resume our cover as a couple. She said she would let us work out the details. She asked me to tell you how happy she is."

Just then Ellie burst into the room.

"Sarah," Ellie said, with the concern evident in her voice. "I'm glad to see you awake. Let me take a look at you while your boyfriend here gets his finger x-rayed."

As soon as Chuck left with the x-ray technician, Ellie took her light and looked into Sarah's eyes. She held up a finger and asked Sarah to follow it just using her eyes as she moved it about.

"How is your pain?" Ellie asked gently.

"It's pretty good as pain goes." Sarah said with a smile. "My left foot is on fire. Other than that, it's just an ache that covers my whole body."

"I think you're going to be fine," Ellie said with a relieved grin. "Your left ankle is sprained so you're going to have to stay off it for a few days. I'll have them bring you something for the pain. But otherwise, I'd say you're really lucky."

"When can I go home?" Sarah asked.

"Let's see how you feel this afternoon," Ellie said. "If you can sit up then without getting dizzy we'll let you go. You're not going to be getting around much for a couple of days so Chuck is really going to have to help you out."

"Oh no," Sarah said with a smile. "I may starve."

"I don't think so," Ellie said as she smiled. "Chuck is a genius at picking up take out."

"I'm embarrassed to ask this question," Sarah said as she blushed noticeably. "Given the other person we're talking about. But what about sex?"

"I'm not sure if Chuck is a genius at that or not," Ellie teased. "You would have to tell me. But please don't. I'm sure that I don't want to know."

Sarah just smiled.

"There is no medical reason to not have sex," Ellie said more seriously. "I seriously doubt that you are going to be in the mood anytime in the next few hours. But if you are, please wait until you get home. These rooms aren't that private and that's definitely something I don't want to walk in on."

Ellie saw the confused look on Sarah's face. "Trust me," she said with a laugh. "It wouldn't be the first time. As soon as you can walk without crutches, we'll go out for that night on the town that we've been talking about and I'll tell you all about the scene I walked into right in this very room."

It was at that point that Chuck came back to the room.

"Well," said Ellie as she smiled. "I see that my backup has arrived. I'll be back to see you again in a few hours. Try and get some rest."

Sarah tried to lift her head off the pillow to look at Chuck but immediately got dizzy and had to lie back down.

"Chuck, will you do me a favor?" Sarah asked.

Chuck just nodded.

"I can't move my head," Sarah said. "I know that we have to talk about what happened this week. Hopefully a lot has changed for us. But could we please hold off on that for a while? I understand that you're going to have some anger to work through. For right now though, I really just need to hold you. Could you please lean over to me?"

Chuck saw her struggling. Perhaps things had changed, but they also needed to be defined. He needed to know exactly where he stood with her. But she was right. That didn't need to happen right now. She was hurting. Making her feel better was his first priority. Now was the time for healing. "I can do better than that," he said. "Slide over a little."

Chuck took off his shoes and got into bed along side Sarah. Sarah very carefully rolled over on her side and rested her head on Chuck's chest as he wrapped his arm around her.

Sarah was grateful that he was willing to defer what could possibly be a tense discussion. He had every right to be pissed at her. But this simply felt so good. "I've been waiting for this moment for six months," she sighed contentedly. "It was worth getting blown up for."

"It's funny," Chuck said with a soft smile as he very gently kissed the top of her head. "I've been waiting for this moment my whole life."

Within five minutes they were both sound asleep.

When Ellie popped her head in the room a little later to check on Sarah, she saw them sleeping. They looked so much like a couple that had been together for years, so natural and peaceful in each other's arms, that Ellie couldn't help the tears that started flowing down her cheeks. She simply couldn't resist taking their picture on her phone. As she sent the picture to Joy, she knew that in a matter of minutes the now famous love story of Chuck and Sarah would have a new chapter all over the hospital.

"I can't help it," Ellie whispered to herself as she wiped the tears from her eyes.

"They're just so darned cute."

x-x-x-x-x


	14. Urban Legend

_This is not an original story. In fact it is one of my first. It was written at the beginning of season 2. The story was inspired by a series of discussions between BrickRoad and me talking through different storyline ideas._

_Warning: There is some adult content in this. Nothing major but please use discretion. I still don't own Chuck._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference. That's probably more important than ever now that the series has ended. If you want to keep the Chuck fandom alive and continue to read about these characters, you really need to think about rewarding the people whose hard work make that possible._

**Urban Legend**

x-x-x-x-x

When Joy received the message from Ellie with the picture of Chuck and Sarah sleeping, for some strange reason she felt the tears fill her eyes. They simply looked so peaceful. It was the most adorable story she had ever heard. So she immediately downloaded the picture to her computer. Using the hospital's email system, she composed a message to her friend Amy who worked in Pediatrics.

_This is Dr. Bartowski's brother and his girlfriend. I'm sure you've heard the story of Chuck and Sarah. Aren't they just adorable? I hope Sarah is going to be okay after her head injury._

As soon as Joy sent the message, she sat and thought about Chuck. Even though she had known him for years, she had always just thought of him as Dr. Bartowski's geeky little brother. As a matter of fact, Ellie had offered to set her up with him on more than one occasion, but she had always declined. Seeing him in the picture with Sarah changed her perspective totally. "Wow, is he cute," Joy whispered to herself wistfully as the blush crept up her neck and into her face. But the way they were holding each other was plain. He was now off the market.

When Amy received the message she immediately forwarded the message to her friends Marge and Holly.

_Here is a picture of Chuck and Sarah. Aren't they the perfect couple? I'm sure you have heard their story. Isn't it a shame about Sarah's brain injury?_

Marge forwarded the picture to several of her friends.

_Here is a picture of the famous Chuck and Sarah this morning. Isn't this the cutest thing you've ever seen? Too bad. It doesn't sound like Sarah is going to make it._

Each time the message got forwarded to another set of recipients, Sarah's prognoses became worse. Finally it became common knowledge that she had an inoperable brain tumor and only had six weeks to live. Thus the urban legend of the star struck love story of Chuck and Sarah was born.

x-x-x-x-x

Sarah was the first to wake. That was not surprising since she had gotten a lot more sleep last night than Chuck had. She was very surprised at how much better she felt. The pain medication that Ellie had given her was really doing a good job. She could still feel some tenderness in her ankle but everything else felt fine. Since her head was lying on Chuck's chest, she could feel every breath that he took. She had never felt so comfortable in her life. Slowly, so as not to wake him, Sarah shifted her head so that she could look at Chuck's face. It looked so peaceful. By the smile on his face, Sarah could tell that he was as content as she was. Wanting the moment to last forever, she snuggled into Chuck as closely as she could. How great would it be to wake up like this every morning?

"I love you so much that it scares me," Sarah whispered as she waited for Chuck to wake up. "As soon as you wake up, I'll show you. I'm so, so sorry that I've waited so long."

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie finally found a few minutes in her somewhat crazy morning to get to her office. She really hadn't had a chance all day to check her emails. So she was surprised to see that she had seventy-three unread messages.

Ellie opened the first message. It was from an RN in the cardiac unit that she barely knew. It was a sympathy note telling Ellie how sorry she was about Sarah and how the story made her cry.

Confused, Ellie opened the next message. It was from a doctor in pediatrics. She included a link to a web site that talked about an experimental new treatment for brain tumors.

The next message was an offer to start a memorial fund in Chuck and Sarah's name.

"Oh dear," Ellie whispered to herself with a smile. "Only seventy more to go."

Ellie was about half way through reading her messages when her phone rang. She could tell from the caller ID that it was Devon.

"Hi, sweetie," Ellie answered.

"Hi, babe," said Devon in a concerned voice. "Is there something wrong with Sarah?"

x-x-x-x-x

When Chuck opened his eyes, it took him a long moment to remember where he was. All he knew was that he was holding an angel in his arms.

"Please," he whispered to himself as he took the hand that was behind Sarah and squeezed her shoulder gently. "Don't let this be a dream."

"It's not a dream," Sarah said with a soft smile as she lifted her head to look into Chuck's eyes. "At least not one that you wake up from."

"How are you feeling?" Chuck asked softly as he returned Sarah's smile.

"Words aren't my strength," Sarah said as she slowly lowered her head to touch her lips to his. "Let me show you."

Chuck and Sarah's very first truly romantic kiss started off very gently. Chuck was very willing to let Sarah dictate the pace since he wasn't sure how much she was still hurting. But after a moment the kiss grew decidedly more intense with Sarah reaching her hand behind Chuck's head to draw him closer. Chuck, at first, was still being very careful not to hurt her. But when he felt Sarah's tongue pass his lips, he figured it was okay to be a little more physical.

Still trying to be careful of her head, he wrapped his hands around Sarah's shoulders and pulled her close. As their tongues danced, Chuck rubbed Sarah's bare back where her gown had come open. Hospital gowns were mostly worthless anyway. And this one was currently so bunched up that it wasn't covering much. If not for the single sheet that was covering them, she would have been naked, at least from a practical point of view. Not that she was complaining at all.

Sarah knew all about her earlier promise to Ellie, but the necking was rapidly getting her motor running hotter than it had ever been. Chuck was so cute. His hands were drifting but he was clearly hesitant to move to her chest.

Finally Sarah decided to hell with it. If Ellie did happen to walk in on something, she would understand. After all, she was rooting for them harder than anybody. That's when Sarah gently broke the kiss. "Don't misunderstand me," she said with a smile. "I'm not trying to stop you in any way. In fact I don't want you to stop. If you want our first time to be right here, right now, I'm all for that. But this isn't a very private place. Ellie could come back at any minute. And here is the one word of caution that I would say to you. Don't start anything here that you're not willing to finish here. I'm going to be on a mission to make sure our first time is something that we never forget for the rest of our lives, and I'm not stopping just because Ellie is standing there watching us."

"We'd better slow down," Chuck said reluctantly with a huge grin. "I'm hoping that our first time is unforgettable for an entirely different reason than because Ellie watched it happen. That might just scar me for life. Besides, you're in a hospital bed connected to an IV. There must be some sort of rule against that."

Sarah ran her hand up Chuck's leg playfully. "Are you sure?" she asked with her own grin. She paused for a long moment before moving to tease him by beginning to unfasten his belt. "Your, umm… body language seems to be saying something else."

"I'd say you are feeling better." Chuck said with an equally large grin as he rolled out of the bed and out of her reach. "I know for sure that I'm feeling better. A whole lot better."

"I'm starving," Sarah said with a laugh as she sat up. She took full measure of his embarrassed look as he turned away from the sight of her trying to resituate her gown. "I haven't eaten in a whole day. I've been too worried about you."

"Do you want me to go down to the cafeteria and get you something?" Chuck asked as he redid his belt.

"I can't tell you what I'd give you for a cheeseburger and fries," Sarah said with a grin. "But it looks like you're going to have to wait until we get home to collect."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck walked down the corridor of the hospital on his way to the cafeteria. Naturally he had been there many times with Ellie so he was very comfortable knowing the way. Chuck knew most of the ER staff by name. Many of them had even been to the house at one time or another. Ellie was quite the hostess, after all. So Chuck wasn't surprised at all when Dawn, one of the nurses approached him. He was very surprised however when she threw her arms around him.

"That is the most romantic story I've ever heard," Dawn said in a rush as she buried her face in Chuck's chest.

Chuck had no clue what to do with his hands. He knew Dawn. But certainly not well enough to be hugging her. "Umm, thanks," he replied in a confused voice.

"I hope you're able to make Sarah comfortable," Dawn said, her voice muffled by his shirt.

Chuck still didn't know what to do. So he settled for standing there like an idiot and resting his hands softly on her back. "Sure," he said, still confused. "She has a bit of a headache."

"I know, honey," said Dawn softly. "It's hard. Are you still hoping to get married? Before, well, you know."

Chuck had no clue what Dawn was talking about. So he was honest. "I don't know," he said with a smile. "We haven't had time…"

At that Dawn burst into tears. "I'm so sorry," she said as she ran off down the hallway sobbing.

"But she's starting to feel better…" Chuck called after Dawn as she was running away.

"Wow," Chuck said, more to himself as his mouth fell open. "That was odd."

x-x-x-x-x

Ellie had finally just finished reading all of her emails when Chuck knocked on her office door.

"Hi, sis," he said sadly. "Got a minute?"

"Sure," Ellie said with a sideways glance. "What's wrong?"

"I'm hoping you'll tell me," Chuck said. "On my way to the cafeteria I was stopped by five different women. All of them told me some variation of they were praying for Sarah to get better. Two of them ran off crying. Is there something about Sarah that you're not telling me?"

Ellie couldn't hold in the laugh. "I guess there is," she said.

"Don't worry, sweetie," she quickly said as she noticed Chuck's look. "It's nothing bad. I promise. It's just that you two kid's story has sort of taken the hospital by storm. And like all urban legends it has sort of taken a life of its own. Some of the facts have gotten a little distorted."

"Distorted," Chuck asked. "In what way?"

"Well," Ellie said hesitantly. "Everybody sort of thinks that Sarah has an inoperable brain tumor and not much time left to live."

"And that's not true?" Chuck asked quickly.

"Sweetie," said Ellie soothingly. "Of course not. You know how rumors are. Every time another person tells the story, they add a little. Until eventually, it gets out of control. Sarah is fine. I promise."

"But how do they even know about Chuck and Sarah?" Chuck asked. "Until yesterday, I didn't even know about Chuck and Sarah."

"Well, actually," Ellie said as her face turned red. "That might be my fault. I might have told some people. The story was just so romantic. I couldn't help it. I hope you're not upset."

"I'm not upset," Chuck quickly reassured his sister with a laugh as he left her office. "But good luck explaining it to Sarah. She's a known hothead."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck watched Sarah wolf down her burger with an amused grin. Not that he was all that experienced with beautiful women, but he assumed that most were very dainty when they were eating. Not Sarah, she attacked her food like she would attack a bad guy with a knife. It was cute.

"Umm," Sarah said, her words mumbled because her mouth was full of food. "This is the best burger I've ever had. And I thought hospital food was supposed to be bad."

Sarah was sitting up in her hospital bed with her food on her tray table. Chuck sat next to her in the chair.

"Well," said Chuck with a laugh as he ate his own burger. "For one thing I think you're really hungry. For another, once they found out it is was for Sarah they specially cooked one. They were pushing each other out of the way to cook it."

"They must know that you're Ellie's brother," Sarah said with a smile. "That's really sweet."

There was no way that Chuck was going to take the spear for Ellie on the hospital urban legend thing. He wasn't sure how Sarah would take that. She really didn't like publicity. And he wasn't all that eager to find out. "Something like that," he replied with a grin.

"That reminds me," Sarah said as she picked up a fry and popped it into her mouth. "I need some clothes. Do you think you could run to your place and grab the emergency bag that I keep there? The CIA doctor just brought me my gun and knives. I can't wear the mission clothes that I was wearing last night. That would look to weird. And there's no place to hide them in this gown."

"That's for sure," Chuck said teasing her with a laugh. "You can barely hide you in that thing. There sure is not enough room for anything else."

Sarah wasn't sure why she was blushing. She was pretty much naked with him just an hour ago. And she was more than willing to get a lot more naked than just pretty much. But she clearly was blushing. It felt kinda nice, like the lovesick schoolgirl Casey accused her of being. "Stop," she said playfully.

"Is there anything else that you need?" Chuck asked as he got ready to leave. "I'll borrow Ellie's car. I'll be back in about an hour."

"Yes, Chuck," Sarah said. "Come here and let me tell you."

Thinking that Sarah had some sensitive spy issue to tell him, he leaned his head close to Sarah's. Sarah wrapped her arms around his neck and crushed her lips to his. After a long moment she broke the kiss.

"You've had to wait far too long for this," Sarah sighed as she kissed him again. "I'm not much with words. But you deserve to know how very much I love you."

"I know," Chuck said softly with a grin when the kiss finally broke. "It's a great feeling."

As Sarah watched Chuck disappear down the hallway of the hospital, she could feel the disappointment wash over her. "Then why won't you say it back?" she said to herself. "I guess it's time for our talk."

x-x-x-x-x


	15. Priorities

_This is not an original story. In fact it is one of my first. It was written at the beginning of season 2. The story was inspired by a series of discussions between BrickRoad and me talking through different storyline ideas._

_Warning: There is some adult content in this. Nothing major but please use discretion. I still don't own Chuck._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference. That's probably more important than ever now that the series has ended. If you want to keep the Chuck fandom alive and continue to read about these characters, you really need to think about rewarding the people whose hard work make that possible._

**Priorities**

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck was whistling to himself as he walked up the hospital hallway carrying Sarah's overnight bag. There were multiple reasons for his good mood. First, he was able to park Ellie's car in the doctor's only parking lot. For some silly reason that always made him feel good. He also was able to tell all five women that stopped to tell him that they were sorry about Sarah that she was going to be fine. The smiles that he got would make anybody feel good. Then there was the fact that he had just been made an agent. Getting paid would mean that he could buy a new car and move out of Ellie's place. But overwhelming all of those other reasons, he was only seconds from seeing the most amazing person he could possibly imagine, the unquestioned love of his life. Then he thought about the intense necking session this morning in her hospital bed. With any luck, he would be taking her home today. With even better luck, who knows how his night would work out?

"I'm due some good luck," Chuck said to himself as he opened the door to Sarah's room.

It was pretty obvious that something was bothering her. Sarah wasn't crying. In fact Chuck had never seen her cry. But for the first time, it seemed like it could happen at any second. Although she quickly did her best to hide it, her eyes told the story.

"Sarah, what's wrong?" Chuck asked softly as he hurried over to her.

Sarah's tone didn't do anything to calm Chuck's fears. In fact, he was on edge. "I need to talk to you," she said as she wrapped her arms around Chuck's neck. "This is important. And I'm not so good with words. So please promise me that you'll let me finish before you say anything."

"Okay," Chuck said slowly as he sat on the side of bed and grabbed Sarah's hands in his. The concern was evident on his face. He had no idea what to expect but this couldn't be good.

"First, I just want to tell you how terribly sorry I am," Sarah said as she continued to hold him.

The look on Chuck's face changed from obvious concern to downright fear as his heart leapt into the throat and he feared the worst. He just knew that she was going to tell him that she had been reassigned.

"I've been hurting you because I didn't put you first," Sarah continued softly. "I thought that I was doing the right thing. I've been trained to follow orders without question. I was so stupid. I just want you to know that will never, ever happen again. From now on, you're the most important thing in my life."

Chuck realized that he had been holding his breath. His face broke into a smile as he suddenly felt relieved.

"I love you so much," Sarah said. "I have for a long time. But I'll admit that I'm just figuring out what to do about it. I know that you're upset with me. You have every right. I know that I have some work to do to regain your trust. And I'll do anything I can to do that. I know I don't deserve it but I'd be so grateful for a second chance. I'd really like for us to be together. I'll wait forever for you to love me if I have too."

At hearing her words, Chuck's smile faded back to a look of concern.

"Please forgive me," Sarah finally said.

"Are you done?" Chuck said softly.

Sarah just nodded.

"That was nice," Chuck said with a smile. "But why on earth would you think that I don't love you right now? Don't you believe me when I say it? What do I have to do to make you believe it? Whatever it is, I'll do it."

"If you said it, I would believe you," Sarah said as she held him even closer.

"Sarah," Chuck said hesitantly as he broke her embrace. "I'm confused. I've told you that I love you."

"No, Chuck," Sarah said softly as she looked him the eye. "No you haven't."

"Come on," Chuck said insistently with a scoff. "I have so."

"Trust me," Sarah said with more of an edge to her voice than she really intended. "You have never said it. I've been waiting to hear it. Do you really think that's something I would have forgotten?"

"Oh my goodness," Chuck said as the realization hit him. He softly embraced Sarah again. "I'm so sorry. I must have told everybody but you. I'm embarrassed. I guess now it's me that needs you to forgive me."

"Maybe," Sarah said as a smile began to break out on her face. She pulled out of the embrace to look at him.

"Maybe?" Chuck questioned in surprise.

"Chuck," Sarah said in a soft frustrated voice after a long pause. "You still haven't said it."

"I haven't?" Chuck said with a smile. Now he was obviously teasing her. "Are you sure?"

"Chuck," Sarah said in a warning tone.

"I love you," Chuck said quickly. "I can't describe how much. I have for a long time. I'm sorry if I made you question that."

Sarah softly wrapped her arms around Chuck's neck as the smile automatically came to her face.

"But as much as I love you, there are some things that we have to get straight if we're actually going to be together," Chuck said sadly.

Sarah let go of Chuck so that he could pull back to look into her eyes. Her eyes told Chuck to continue as her smile faded.

"These past three days have been hell," Chuck said firmly. "You told me that you were in love with someone else. Not only someone else, but Bryce. You have to have known what that would do to me. Not only that, you stood there and watched as another agent tried to get me into her bed."

When Chuck could see the tears welling in her eyes he reached to her and pulled her close. "You're misunderstanding me," he said softly. "I'm not mad at you, not really. I understand that you only did those things because of orders. I also understand how dedicated you are, how much following orders means to you. But where does that leave me?"

Chuck paused for a moment to compose himself.

"It's like I'm a slave to those same orders… with no control over them. Every time I see you, I'm going to be terrified that you're about to tell me that you just got a phone call. You're going to tell me that you've been reassigned, that you have to be in Paraguay to quell a coup in the morning, and that I'll probably never see you again. Every time that you say my name that is going to be my first fear."

Chuck tightened his grip. "I couldn't take that, you know?" he said. "That would kill me. How can we be together with that hanging over us?"

"Chuck, that's not going to happen," Sarah said softly as she shook her head firmly. "I promise."

"How do you know?" Chuck asked in a confused tone. "I mean, you never know what orders you're going to get, right?"

"Because I wouldn't allow that to happen," Sarah said firmly as she pulled back to be able to look at him. "I'd quit first. Beckman already knows that."

"Really?" Chuck asked.

"Chuck, listen to me," Sarah said gently. "You are the love of my life. But I hurt you. I know that. And I can hide behind the orders and I can blame Beckman all I want. But the fact is that I hurt you in a very cruel, awful way. Me. Sarah. And I'm ashamed of myself. I am. It's something that I'll regret for the rest of my life. I've always been dedicated to my duty. You know that. I've always been willing to sacrifice for the greater good. And I still think that is very important. But it pales in comparison to how I feel about you. It took Ellie to point out to me how stupid I was being. There is no way that I'm sacrificing you. And it took almost losing you to realize that would have killed me too. So, trust me Chuck, I'm not going anywhere. My priorities have changed. My new number one priority is your safety. If you think that I was hard-core before, I'm afraid I'm going to get downright fanatical. But when we're not in danger, my second priority is to make you happy. There is nothing that is off the table in that quest. Beckman's orders only come after that. She understands that. I won't pretend that she is happy about it, but she understands."

At that, Sarah's face turned into a smile. "As far as making you happy," she said. "I wasn't kidding about being willing to do anything. I'm willing to go outside of my comfort zone and tell you that I love you more than I would normally be comfortable with. I know that you need to hear it. But I have to admit, my main weapon is going to be sex. And, yes, I'll also admit that's a little self-serving. I'm going to enjoy it as much if not more than you are. But expect to find yourself being seduced… a lot. Expect it to happen almost anywhere. I have a whole year's worth of daydreams to catch up on."

Chuck couldn't hide the blush that was already into his face. He got into bed beside her and reclined it so they could lie comfortably. "I guess I can live with the tons of sex thing," he said with a huge grin. "Do you think that maybe I can be the guy in the relationship every once in a while? It's a silly male ego thing."

"Maybe," Sarah replied with a grin. "I'll tell you what, you can leave the toilet seat up every once in a while."

"Deal," Chuck said with a laugh. "I'm pretty used to getting yelled at about that." Then he got more serious. "I love you. My intent is to keep telling you that until you get tired of hearing it."

"Hey," whispered Sarah with a smile as she snuggled comfortably into his chest.

"Bring it."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah had snuggled for about twenty minutes when Chuck suddenly jumped out of bed. "Man," he said excitedly. "I almost forgot."

"What did you almost forget?" Sarah asked mischievously.

Chuck pulled a small plastic bag out of Sarah's travel bag. "I stopped by the jewelers on the way back over here," he said with a grin. "I picked up a little something for you."

"Really," Sarah said as her eyes got big.

"Sure," Chuck said softly as he handed Sarah a purple velvet box.

When Sarah opened the box she saw a very fine chain with a diamond pendant. "Chuck," she said as she tried to hide her disappointment. "This is really beautiful."

"It's to thank you for saving my life," Chuck said with a smile as he took the necklace from her. "Let me help you put it on."

Chuck moved the chair next to Sarah's head. He sat on his knees on the chair to be able to reach around Sarah's neck. Finally he was able to fasten the chain.

Sarah looked at the pedant hanging from her neck. She had to admit, Chuck knew her tastes very well. This looked incredible. It was elegant and understated and delicate and… it also looked very expensive, all of them among Sarah's favorite things. But she was clearly hoping for something else. "Thank you," she said as she was still trying to hide her disappointment. She kissed Chuck gently. "This really is sweet."

"You know that I love you," Chuck said softly. "Right?"

Sarah just nodded with a smile.

"Well," Chuck said with his own grin. "As long as I'm already on my knees, there's something else I'd like to say."

"The necklace was for saving my life. It looks amazing on you," Chuck said as he pulled another velvet box out of his pocket. "This one is for helping me to begin my life."

When Chuck opened the box, Sarah was looking in surprise at the biggest diamond ring she had ever seen.

"Sarah Walker," he said gently. "I know that we're not the typical couple. We've only been on one real date. We'll probably never be considered normal. But I also know that I never want to be apart. I don't know how this thing with the intersect is all going to work out. A lot of things are going to happen that we won't have much control over. But I know that I want you by my side when they do. I can't make a lot of promises. But the one promise I can make is that I'll cherish you for the rest of my life. Will you please marry me?"

Sarah tried to answer but no words would come. Finally she simply nodded her head.

As Chuck took the ring out of the box, Sarah held out her left hand. The grin on Chuck's face couldn't have been any bigger as he slipped the ring onto Sarah's finger. Sarah stared at her hand for a long moment, almost like she was in a trance. Then she threw her arms around Chuck's neck and hugged him as tightly as she could.

"I love you," she whispered as she pressed her lips to his.

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah sat side by side in the bed with it elevated waiting for Ellie to come and say that it was okay to go. Sarah's head was resting on Chuck's shoulder as she stared at her hand contentedly.

Finally Sarah broke the silence. "Chuck," she said softly with a sigh. "This is the biggest diamond I've ever seen. How could you possibly afford something like this?"

"I forgot to tell you," Chuck said animatedly. "Beckman made me an agent. They established a cover software company. I'm being paid for a video game idea I submitted. They just deposited eighty seven thousand dollars back pay into my account. They want to swear me in as soon as you can be there."

"Congratulations, Agent Bartowski," Sarah said with a smile as she kissed Chuck on the cheek. "Now where is Ellie? I want to get home and celebrate our engagement. Did I happen to mention my seduction plans?"

The question was clearly rhetorical. But before Chuck could answer anyway Ellie popped her head into the room. Chuck got off the bed to give her a hug.

"Hi guys," she said with a smile. "I bet you're anxious to get out of here."

Sarah nodded quickly.

"How do you feel?" Ellie asked Sarah. "Do you have any dizziness? Any pain?"

"My ankle is still a little tender," replied Sarah. "But otherwise, I've never felt better in my life."

"Great," said Ellie as she removed the IV from Sarah's arm. "Let's get you out of here. You're going to need to stay off your ankle for at least a couple of days. At first it's really going to be sore but that should begin to fade. After that you can do whatever doesn't hurt. You're clearly a fast healer but it's still going to be sore for a week or so. I'm going to give you some pain medicine to take home. Do you have any questions?"

"I do have one question," Sarah said. "It's about balance."

That got the doctor to do a double take. "Are you having trouble with your balance?" Ellie asked quickly with the concern evident in her voice. "Are you dizzy at all?"

"No, Ellie," Sarah said with a laugh. "I'm sorry that I said it like that. It's nothing like that."

Sarah could see that Ellie had a confused look.

"It's just that," Sarah said as she held out her left hand. "My one side has this huge rock on it and the other side doesn't. Do you think it will affect my balance?"

"Oh my God," Ellie whispered to herself as the tears filled her eyes and she threw her arms around Sarah. "That's the best news I've ever heard. Welcome to the family. I finally have a sister."

"It's all because of you," Sarah said as she hugged Ellie tight. "Thank you for knocking some sense into me."

"As soon as you're up to it," Ellie said with a laugh. "We're going to make the guys take us on the town to celebrate."

"I'm looking forward to it," Sarah said with a laugh.

"But you shouldn't drink any alcohol while you are taking the pain medication," Ellie cautioned.

"That's okay," Sarah said with a sly smile. "We'll just have to figure out another way to celebrate. By the way, you're going to have a spare room. Chuck will be staying with me until we can find our own apartment. It seems like our amazing guy here just sold a video game idea. I'm so proud of him."

Ellie hugged Chuck tightly. "Wow," she said. "I guess there's all sorts of good news today. So you closed the sale in more ways than one. Good for you."

"Sarah's right," Chuck said with a grin. "It was all because of you. Those drugs really helped. I might need some more when it comes time for the actual wedding."

The mood in the room was fairly giddy, so that got them all laughing. "Go get the car," Ellie said. "I'll go get a wheelchair and Sarah and I will meet you out front. You can keep the car for tonight. I'll get a ride home with Devon."

"Chuck," Sarah said softly as Ellie left and she pulled the curtain around the bed. "I'd better get dressed. Could you please hand me my clothes?"

Chuck retrieved the overnight bag from where he had set it earlier. But to his surprise, when he tried to hand it to her she simply shook her head.

"I'll need you to help me," Sarah said as she gathered the curtain around her and poked her head out. "That's what fiancés do, right?"

"Could you please hand me my underwear?" Sarah asked with a seductive smile as she dropped her gown and let the curtain fall away.

Chuck fished out a pair of bikini briefs from the bag and handed them to her. His face immediately turned red as he realized for the first time that Sarah was standing there before him totally naked. He glanced quickly around the room not sure what to do with his eyes.

"Now sweetie," Sarah asked softly with the same seductive smile as she enjoyed Chuck's obvious discomfort. "Can you hand me my bra?"

As Chuck handed her the lacey bra from the bag, his face turned even redder, if that was even possible. He kept his embarrassed gaze fixed at the floor. As she observed Chuck's uncomfortable condition, Sarah's smile turned sinister.

"Remember about an hour ago?" Sarah asked. "When you teased me with that necklace? That is what you were doing, right?"

Chuck just nodded numbly.

"It's cute that you wanted to tease me," Sarah said with a sly smile. "I'll admit you got me. But I also think it's important that you remember how competitive I am. When you pull one over on me, I'm going to want to get even. And I now have a whole slue of new weapons at my disposal. You just witnessed one. Do we understand each other?"

Chuck just nodded as a smile crept on his face. "I'm hoping to get to the point where I can see you naked without blushing," he said. "Maybe we can practice for a bit when we get home."

"You've got it," Sarah said softly with a grin. "While we're in training mode, maybe there are also some other things we can work on."

"After all, practice makes perfect."

x-x-x-x-x


	16. Home

_This is not an original story. In fact it is one of my first. It was written at the beginning of season 2. The story was inspired by a series of discussions between BrickRoad and me talking through different storyline ideas._

_Warning: There is some adult content in this. Nothing major but please use discretion. I still don't own Chuck._

_If you enjoyed this or any of the stories on this site, please take a second and send the author a review. It only takes a second – and it really, really makes a difference. That's probably more important than ever now that the series has ended. If you want to keep the Chuck fandom alive and continue to read about these characters, you really need to think about rewarding the people whose hard work make that possible._

**Home**

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck and Sarah were driving back to Sarah's place in Ellie's car. They were still a little embarrassed from the send off they received at the hospital. Although Chuck was aware that their romance had caused a buzz with the staff, Sarah had no idea. But even Chuck was stunned when they were greeted by a throng of smiling well wishers with a huge banner that read "Congratulations – Chuck and Sarah." He was surprised at how red Sarah's face was.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you," Chuck said rather defensively to Sarah who was looking out the passenger window. "I know that you hate surprises."

"Tell me about what?" Sarah asked softly while continuing to look out the window.

"About the hospital staff," Chuck said. "Ellie told me that our story has really captured their imagination. I should have told you. We were just kind of busy. I'm really sorry."

"It's okay," Sarah responded. "It was kind of cute."

"So," Chuck asked hesitantly. "You're not mad?"

"Why would you think I'm mad?" Sarah asked, turning to look at Chuck for the first time. "Not about that anyway."

"Well," Chuck said with a soft smile. "You're being awfully quiet for someone who just got engaged an hour ago. Are you okay? What are you mad about?"

"I'm not mad," Sarah insisted. "But who was that woman who was hugging you?"

Chuck really didn't know what to say. His initial inclination was to tease her. But by some instinct he thought better of it. Better to simply answer her question. "Her name is Joy," he said.

"How long have you known her?"

Now there could be no doubt. She was definitely jealous. Chuck maybe hadn't been Sarah's fiancé for very long, only a few short hours, but he definitely knew that they were headed for some rather thin ice. He also knew that the worst thing would be to be defensive. "Years," he said as calmly as he could with a smile. "She is the receptionist in the ER. She's a friend of Ellie's. She's been to the apartment a few times. Sarah, are you jealous?"

"I'm not jealous," Sarah scoffed. "That's ridiculous. Have you ever dated her?"

"Not only have I never dated her," Chuck said. "Today is the first time that she has ever treated me as anything but invisible."

"That's good," Sarah said with the beginnings of a sly smile. "I'm just thinking."

"Care to share your thoughts with your future husband?" Chuck asked softly.

"No thanks," Sarah said, passing a surreptitious glance his way. His eyes were wide with affront. Her shoulders dropped as she reached over to take his hand. "Come on, Chuck," she said as as a faint smile came to her lips. She slipped her fingers between his, squeezing once. "You know I'm only teasing." Then she paused for a beat for effect. "Although, it might be a good thing if you would let your new friend Joy know that if she ever, ever touches you again, it's not going to go so well for her."

There was something in her tone that told Chuck that she was only half teasing. "She's not my friend," he protesting meekly. "I barely know her. I seriously doubt that you are ever going to see her again. Please don't beat her up. I'm sure that she didn't mean anything." Then he paused for his own beat for effect. "I really don't know how to say this," he said. "But I'd really appreciate it if you didn't make me find this out the hard way. Just how jealous are you going to be?"

"Very, I'm afraid," Sarah said with a smile that was again, clearly only half teasing. "I'm really not interested in seeing another woman hug you." Then she paused for a moment. "Or touch you, or even smile at you when it really comes down to it," she finally continued. "I trust that you're willing to be sensitive to that."

"Okay," Chuck said, trying to keep the mood light. "I trust that I can expect the same sensitivity."

"Of course," Sarah said. "Even when our relationship was only a cover, I was sensitive to that."

Chuck did a double take. Suddenly he forgot all about the thin ice thing… or keeping the mood light. "Huh?" he asked incredulously. "Hello? Lon Kirk? He had his hands all over you. You were about ready to lose your bikini."

Fortunately Sarah was not mad, in fact just the opposite. She reached over and grabbed his hand. "I know," she said sadly. "Technically that doesn't count. It was a mission. But I'm not very proud of myself for that. It's just one more thing that I have to make up to you. I knew you and Casey were watching us on that boat… and at the time I was pretty angry with you. So I let him go a lot further than I normally would."

"Angry? What did I do?"

Sarah smiled sadly at him. "You made me fall in love with you," she said. "Doesn't seem very fair, does it? It may seem silly now. But at the time, it was probably the worst thing you could have possibly done to me. An Agent falling for her asset is the most unprofessional thing that could possibly happen. If it were discovered I'd have gotten myself reassigned and made a laughingstock to the entire agency. I'm afraid that mattered to me a lot then, more than it should have. So I'm sorry."

Chuck just nodded his understanding.

"But things are different now," Sarah said. "I wouldn't accept that assignment today." Sarah paused for a moment, like she was considering how much to say. "As long as we're having this discussion, let's get this on the table," she finally continued. "Going forward I might have to flirt with someone someday. That's simply a fact of life in our business. But you deserve to be sure that I'll never go farther than that. And even flirting, I would only go that far if it was to keep you safe somehow. If it does ever happen, I'll make doubly sure to do something to make it up to you and make sure you're okay after. I would accept that same level of flirting from you as long as it was for that same reason. That's one reason why I'm thinking that our relationship just got a lot more complex."

"I don't know," Chuck said with a smile. "I think it just got simpler. It was always complex. Why do you think it is more complex now?"

"Because," Sarah said so softly that Chuck had to strain to hear her. "We have to balance being in love with staying safe and doing our duty. I'm going to be your loving wife. And I fully intend on being a good one. But I'm also your bodyguard. And I also fully intend on being good at that. I have no intention of becoming a widow. You are still in a ton of danger. Sometimes those wife and bodyguard roles might conflict. I hope that we'll be able to deal with that."

"What's changed?" Chuck asked with a laugh as he pulled the car into the parking lot of Sarah's building. "I've been in love with you for months and you've been telling me to stay in the car."

"But you don't stay in the car," Sarah laughed.

"And you yell at me," Chuck said as he shared Sarah's laugh. "Again, what's changed?"

"Well for one thing," Sarah said as her mood suddenly shifted to being serious. "I now have a new weapon. From now on, when you don't stay in the car you'll find the other side of the bed suddenly became very cold and uncomfortable. Is that what you want?"

"Of course not," said Chuck as he visibly winced.

"Good answer," Sarah said with a smile.

x-x-x-x-x

"I can carry you," Chuck insisted for the third time as they struggled trying to get Sarah into her apartment.

"Damn it Chuck," Sarah snapped. "For the last time, you're not carrying me. That would look ridiculous. I'm fine. Agents are trained to ignore pain. Just let me do this."

Chuck knew that she wasn't really angry with him. She was just in a lot of pain. He kicked himself for not getting some crutches from Ellie. He had forgotten how far away you had to park at Sarah's place. "Sarah," he said softly. "You know that you're not supposed to put any weight on that foot for a couple of days. At least let me support your bad side."

Chuck went to Sarah's side and she attempted to put her arm around Chuck's neck. The problem was that Chuck was too tall for her and Sarah kept loosing her grip. As Sarah's arm slipped off Chuck's neck her foot came down hard on the pavement. Chuck could very clearly see the grimace as Sarah fought to keep her composure. Chuck held her close while he waited for the wave of pain to subside.

Chuck had watched her in agony for far too long now. "Enough," he said firmly as he scooped Sarah up in his arms and carried her into the building.

"You're embarrassing me," Sarah said in a low growl as they entered the building. "Put me down. I can walk."

"Sorry," Chuck said softly. "I'd rather have you embarrassed than see you hurt your ankle any more."

"Chuck, put me down right now," Sarah said in a harsh whisper as they entered the elevator. "I mean it."

Chuck just shook his head firmly. His meaning was clear. "If you want to help," he said. "Push the button for the fifth floor."

x-x-x-x-x

As soon as Chuck carried Sarah into the apartment, he sat her down as gently as he could on the couch. "Sit there," he said firmly. "I'm going to get some ice for your ankle."

Sarah gave Chuck an icy stare when he dragged over a stool to elevate Sarah's foot. As he gently wrapped the ice around her ankle he tried to catch her eye. But she wasn't buying it at all.

"I'm going to the store," Chuck finally said. "I need to pick up some supplies and something to eat. Is there anything that you need me to pick up for you?"

Sarah just shook her head as her eyes still flashed with anger.

Chuck knew Sarah pretty well, well enough to know that she would calm down quickly if he just gave her the space to think about it. "I'm going to let you cool off for a little while," he said as he walked to the door. "I just want to leave you with something to think about. Loving someone means that when they hurt you hurt. Please don't expect me to watch you hurt when I can stop it. That's not fair. It hurts me too. I know that you wouldn't want to have to watch me hurting. Now I'm going to go to the store. I'll pick up something for dinner. I'm also going to run home and pick up some clothes."

"Hopefully, I won't be sleeping on the couch tonight," Chuck said softly as his face broke into a smile. "But if I do, it was worth it. I love you."

As Chuck closed the door behind him, Sarah's face broke into a smile of her own. "I love you too," she said to the now empty room. "I'm not sure how much sleeping is going to happen tonight. But it sure isn't going to happen on the couch."

x-x-x-x-x

Inside of a typical looking business office a man in a grey suit sat behind his desk going over intelligence reports. It was by far the worst part of his day. As he read the rather boring reports about Iraqi resistance estimates he heard a sharp knock at the door.

"Come in," he said sharply.

"Agent Roberts," he said as the man entered the room. "Please sit down. Do you want some coffee?"

"No, thank you, sir," Roberts said stiffly as he sat in the chair across from the desk. "You wanted to see me, sir?"

"Yes, Agent Roberts," said the man. "How long have you been with the organization?"

"About three years, sir," replied Roberts.

"What do you know about Bryce Larkin?"

"I know that he was one of our agents," Roberts said. "He stole all of the intelligence for the intersect computer and destroyed it, sir."

"We've been searching all over the world for this man for the past year," the man said harshly. "There is no higher priority than finding Bryce Larkin."

"Yes sir," Roberts said.

"You're probably wondering what this has to do with you."

"Yes, sir," Roberts said with a smile.

"This is one of our agents," the man said as he handed Roberts a picture. "Her code name is Lizzy. She was staking out a Buy Moore in Burbank. We had some intelligence that indicated that Bryce Larkin might have some connection to that particular Buy More."

"Yes, sir," Roberts said in a confused voice. "Buy More, the appliance store?"

"About three months ago, she suddenly stopped reporting in. We would like you to find out why. If there is some connection to Bryce Larkin, we need to know what it is."

"Yes, sir," Roberts said stiffly.

"I don't need to tell you how badly we want that intersect. We'll settle for Bryce Larkin. The agent who delivers either one of them to us would find himself in a very powerful position. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir," said Roberts. "Thank you for this opportunity, sir. I'll find out what's going on there."

"Good luck, Agent Roberts. You're dismissed."

x-x-x-x-x

Chuck was pretty confident that Sarah was no longer angry. "Is it safe to come in?" he called playfully as he poked his head in the door. "Or should I go shopping for a while longer?"

"It depends," Sarah said softly. "What did you bring to eat? I'm starving."

"What do you think I brought?" Chuck asked with a smile. "What would I bring as a peace offering to make up with you when I know that you're pissed at me?"

"Thai Curry Noodles?" Sarah asked hopefully.

"With extra curry," Chuck said with a grin as he held up the takeout box by its wire handle. "Hey, who do you think that you're dealing with here?"

Chuck set the food on the table. He then quickly set out two plates and silverware. "Can I show you to your table, Miss?" he said playfully as he walked over to where Sarah was sitting on the couch.

"It depends," said Sarah in a sultry voice. "Would you please carry me? I hear that you're very good at it."

"Yes, ma'am," said Chuck as he scooped Sarah up in his arms and took her to her seat at the table.

When Chuck sat Sarah down in her chair, Sarah didn't let go of Chuck's neck.

"I'm so sorry that I'm such a hothead," she said softly as she gently touched her lips to his. "You're right. I need to be more willing to let you help me. I'm just not used to trusting people. Chuck, I'm not used to any of this real couple stuff. I understand that you deserve better. I'm trying my best. I hope that you're willing to be patient with me."

"I am," said Chuck with his trademark grin. "Patience is actually one of my strengths. I've waited for this moment for a year. But maybe you should stop worrying about it. You are amazing. Here's the honest truth. The worst times of being with you are far better than the best times of being without you."

"Wow," Sarah said as she matched Chuck's grin. "Where did that come from? And you think that you're not smooth? Now you're making me want to skip dinner and start ripping your clothes off."

"I think we'd better eat first," Chuck said with a laugh. "From the way you were describing it in the hospital, I'm going to need all of my strength."

"That's true," Sarah reluctantly agreed. "But as soon as we've finished eating, prepare for me to make up for the past week in a more physical manner."

"I don't think so," Chuck said skeptically.

"Not after you've eaten extra curry," Chuck said with a laugh as he responded to Sarah's look.

x-x-x-x-x

As it turned out the extra curry wasn't all that big of a factor after all. Sarah, as promised, was in take-charge seductress mode right from the start. She had him help her to the bed and plopped down on his lap. At first Chuck was more concerned that Sarah might not be up to this physically. After all, she had been unconscious in a hospital bed just a few hours ago. Not to mention the sprained ankle.

But Sarah was having absolutely none of that nonsense. "You promised me," she teased between kisses. "At the hospital you said that you would work on seeing me naked without blushing. You promised to practice. You wouldn't welsh on a promise to your fiancé on the very day we got engaged, would you?"

Even though he knew full well she was teasing and that the question was rhetorical, what could Chuck possibly say to that? In fact he tried his best to not say anything at all and just allow Sarah to do her magic. It seemed like an easy strategy since his mouth was almost always occupied anyway. There must have been some magic involved because he suddenly realized that neither one of their shirts were buttoned. But he couldn't really remember that happening.

The heavy necking went on for some time, how long was anybody's guess. Time seemed to be standing still. Finally Sarah broke the silence and moved off his lap to sit beside him on the bed. "Explain something to me," she said in faux frustration. "According to Agent Ivan's report, which I was forced to stand there and listen to in disgustingly vivid detail, she got you to second base… on your first real date. Now I'm feeling a little inadequate. We're engaged. Is there something wrong with my second base?"

This could be bad on multiple levels. She had already established that she was going to be the jealous type. Fortunately Chuck was pretty sure she was teasing. But he wasn't absolutely sure enough to take any chances. "Umm, it wasn't like that," he quickly said nervously. "She grabbed my hand and put it there."

Sarah's eyes narrowed. "Do I really have to do that?" she asked skeptically.

"It's not like that," Chuck said so softly that she had to strain to hear him. "It's just that… look, you're so beautiful. I've never seen anything so beautiful. I'm honestly a little intimidated sitting here looking at you without your shirt, like it's all a little surreal somehow. I'm afraid that if I touch you, you'll disappear."

Sarah clearly took a moment to gather herself. "You really are the sweet talker tonight, aren't you?" she asked. "But here's the deal. If you're not going to touch me, this might be the shortest first time of making love in history."

That got the smile she was looking for. Chuck eased them on the bed so that they were lying on their backs next to each other. "Okay," he said with a grin as he rolled on to his side to face her and slid his hand up her stomach. "We'll try it your way. But I think there might be something you haven't considered. If I do touch you, it might not last that long either."

x-x-x-x-x

_It was a mission gone bad. And like so many before it, Chuck just wouldn't stay in the damn car. Sarah was looking all over the empty warehouse franticly searching for him. She could see the bad guy holding the gun. He hadn't spotted her yet but he had Chuck in his sights. There was just nothing she could do. She tried to run to get to him but the faster she tried to run the farther away he got. She could see his face as the shot hit him in the chest. It was contorted in shock and pain. Suddenly, before she could even get to Chuck, Casey was standing over him. "No pulse," Casey said flatly. "I'm sorry Walker." _

"_No," cried Sarah. "No. No. Noooo…"_

_Sarah sat up in her bed with a start. Sweat had soaked the sheets on her bed. As tears ran down her face, she knew that it would be hours before she would be able to get back to sleep._

"Sarah?"

"Sarah," Chuck said again as he lay beside her in bed. "Hello. Earth to Sarah." Chuck was lying on his back and Sarah was on her side with her head on Chuck's chest.

"Where did you go?" Chuck said with a smile as he kissed her. "I know that it was great but I hope it didn't put you in shock."

"Pretty sure of yourself," Sarah said with a laugh as she slapped Chuck playfully. "It was way better than great. I'm not the kind of person who says 'I told you so', but that touching thing really worked out. It was the best thing that's ever happened to me in my whole life. But I have to be honest. It wasn't quite shock inducing. Sorry. Maybe we can keep trying."

"Give me ten minutes," Chuck said with a laugh of his own. "And I'll see what I can do. After all, I think that the extra curry is wearing off."

"Ten minutes?" Sarah asked with a fake pout. "You need a ten minute break? We're going to have to work on that. Are you fading on me already?"

"What were you just thinking about?" Chuck asked softly while ignoring Sarah's teasing.

"Nothing really," Sarah said.

"Tell me," Chuck insisted gently. "Please. We still have nine minutes."

"Okay," Sarah said with a sigh. "I just want to warn you. I've been having nightmares."

"Nightmares?" Chuck questioned as he tightened his grip on Sarah's shoulder. "What about?"

"It comes with the territory," Sarah said as she tried to ease Chuck's concern. "They told us over and over in training. Most agents have them."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Chuck asked softly.

"Lately, it has been the same dream," Sarah said with a sigh. "I can't find you and when I finally do you get shot. There's nothing I can do. Then I wake up screaming."

Chuck rubbed her back in soft circles to let her know that he understood.

"It's okay," Sarah said after a long pause. "Really. You just have to learn to deal with it. It's simply part of the price of being an agent. So if I wake up screaming, don't get freaked out, okay?"

"I'm sorry," Chuck said softly. "I guess that's one of those sacrifices that nobody knows about. You know that I'll be right here beside you. I love you."

"I know," Sarah said with a smile. "In seven minutes I expect a more practical expression of your love."

"My sense of timing must be off," Chuck said with a sly smile as he kissed Sarah more urgently. "Maybe I really didn't need all ten minutes. Now let's see if I can make you scream in a more fun way."

x-x-x-x-x

_It was a mission gone bad. And like so many before it, Chuck just wouldn't stay in the damn car. Sarah was looking all over the empty warehouse franticly searching for him. Sarah could see the bad guy holding the gun. Just at the point where the bad guy would shoot, Sarah fired her own shot. "You got him," Chuck said with a smile as the bad guy collapsed to the ground. "Nice shot."_

"Sarah," Chuck whispered. "Are you okay?"

Sarah woke up just enough to realize that Chuck had never really gone to sleep. He had stayed awake to make sure to be there for her. How sweet was that? He was lying on his back next to her. The hand that was wrapped around her gently rubbed her back. Sarah considered his question and how to answer. _Was she okay?_ Certainly she wasn't okay, that wouldn't be close to accurate. Then it hit her. She wasn't okay, she was happy. For maybe the first time in her life, Sarah Walker was truly happy… at peace… content. Her life had just changed in a basic, fundamental way. She was different now, and would never go back to the way it was before. But that was far too much explanation for this hour. It could wait until she could tell him and talk to him about what it meant. So she snuggled her head back into Chuck's chest in her most comfortable spot and whispered contentedly just before she fell back to sleep.

"I am now."

The End

x-x-x-x-x

_A/N: I hope that you enjoyed this retelling. I've always appreciated the support that the original received. I'm glad that I was able to perhaps make it an easier read. I'm happy that Sarah's relationship with Ellie and Beckman were perhaps better explained. I'm also very happy with the two new scenes. Pastor Bob made that church scene flow a lot better. And Sarah kicking (literally) Becky Ivan around the parking lot was simply a required part of the story. I can't believe I didn't add something like that in the original._

_It wouldn't be right to let this go without thanking my friend, Lucky47. The poor kid had to beta sixteen chapters in like two weeks. And she never complained once, well, at least not where I could hear, lol. It was above and beyond anything that could be reasonably expected. So thanks seems woefully inadequate, but it's all I have._

_I haven't decided if I'm going to do the same thing with The Cost of Love. I really could never figure out why it was popular. Frankly, it's probably my least favorite of all my stories. So if I do Re-Master it, it would change far more in the retelling than Therapy or Fake Relationship did._

_It is really the story of Chuck and Sarah coming to know each other well enough to become husband and wife. A major part of that is reconciling their different views on sex._

_Sarah, or more accurately Agent Walker, has the agent view. Sex is basically a commodity to her. She can easily separate sex from love. She's been taught to use it as a spy weapon. Even in her life with Chuck she uses it to get him to do the things that she wants, as a reward, or as an apology for things she's done wrong. We've seen that in the show several times._

_Chuck has the more traditional view. Sex to him is an expression of love. Any other reason for sex would make him (and judging by the reviews of other stories I've received, I'm guessing a lot of you, lol) uncomfortable._

_So I could see Pastor Bob making a reappearance early in the story and pointing that out to them in a bit of pre-marriage counseling. And while Chuck and Sarah are really trying to be supportive of each other, neither truly understands what the other might be going through._

_I always planned on a sequel called The Art of Seduction where the tables are turned and Chuck has to become the seducer. I held off on the wedding to have it be in the sequel. That story isn't going to happen. But I could perhaps add a couple of chapters or so to the end where they both come to understand the other a bit better and actually get married._

_The story had something of an odd dynamic. The situations were very adult. But this was before Poa corrupted me and I was very reluctant to get very explicit. I'm not really an M kinda guy. My wife says that I don't know enough about sex myself to actually write about it (I think she's just teasing) but if I was ever going to go there, this story has several opportunities._

_So I'd be interested in any feedback. Should I do this at all? Should it be rated M? Should I add the chapters to the end that would have been The Art of Seduction? I'll listen to whatever you say, promise._

x-x-x-x-x


End file.
